From Warm Handshakes to Cold Shoulders: The US-China Relationship Shift

President Xi Jinping has described America's approach to China as a policy of containment, encirclement, suppression, and a technological blockade. He believes that these actions pose significant challenges to China's recovery from the pandemic and hinder its efforts to modernize and rejuvenate. Furthermore, President Xi argues that these actions undermine peaceful regional development.

During a recent call with President Joe Biden, President Xi mentioned the increasing "negative factors" in the relationship, which were also discussed before the visits of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. China's foremost diplomat, Wang Yi, has issued a cautionary statement against a potential regression into a negative and worsening situation.

China-US relations are currently characterized as "more stable," according to Yellen, or "beginning to stabilize," as stated by Wang. However, this assessment is just in comparison to the turbulence observed in the previous year. This encompasses several actions by the United States that have provoked China, including its stance on Taiwan, the implementation of stricter regulations and laws against China, the cancellation of official visits, heightened military confrontations in the South China Sea, and a dispute arising from a Chinese weather balloon that went off course.

Undoubtedly, the balloon episode was a low point. The United States maintained that it was a surveillance balloon and issued an order to destroy it. Meanwhile, NATO started broadening its scope to encompass China, with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg affirming that the balloon incident served as evidence of China posing a threat to Europe. Subsequently, the Pentagon acknowledged that the balloon failed to gather any valuable information; however, the negative consequences had already occurred.

During a meeting in November, Xi and Biden pledged to increase the frequency of high-level talks and enhance communication, particularly between their respective military forces. The conference was seen as both a temporary easing of tensions and a false belief in such easing. However, it did promote the implementation of measures to enhance stability.