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Updated July 21st, 2021 at 23:54 IST

Amid tensions, US Deputy State Secy Wendy Sherman to visit China for 'candid exchanges'

US Deputy State Secretary Wendy Sherman will be the highest-ranking American official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021

Reported by: Srishti Jha
US
AP | Image:self
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Amid strained ties between the countries, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is set to visit China on July 25-26, the US State Department informed. Sherman will be the highest-ranking US official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. 

Navigating through heightened tensions amid troubled bilateral relationship, Sherman, the second-ranked official of the State Department, is said to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi amongst other officials including the State Councilor in the northeastern city of Tianjin. The visit has been anticipated in the foreign policy horizon which could help additional exchanges from both sides and a potential rendezvous of Joe Biden and China's supremo Xi Jinping possibly on the sidelines of the G20 summit scheduled in late October in Italy.

"These discussions are part of ongoing US efforts to hold candid exchanges with PRC officials to advance US interests and values and to responsibly manage the relationship," State Department said.

"The Deputy Secretary will discuss areas where we have serious concerns about PRC actions, as well as areas where our interests align," the statement added.

"Will engage with China when it is in our interest to do so": US

Experts have commented that a meeting between Sherman and her Chinese counterparts would be productive given her current official tour of Asia. US officials had earlier said that announcements by the State Department were only made once they determine that a visit has the potential to be substantive and constructive for their purposes. 

"We've been clear that when it comes to PRC, we will engage when it is in our interests to do so, and we do remain interested in doing so in a practical, substantive and direct manner. That certainly remains the case," Ned Price, State Department spokesman said. 

Why are US-China ties strained of late?

Sherman's visit to China follows a significant deterioration in already strained US-China ties in the recent past. Tensions have been aggravated after US banned transactions with a number of Chinese entities that operate in the country's restive western Xinjiang region, where China is accused of repressing Uyghur Muslims and other minorities. The recent ban supplements the US' attempt to punish China over repression against the Indonesian bonded labours at Dalian Ocean Fishing. Recently, US President Biden addressed the recent cyber-attacks and said that the US will join the European nations to expose the magnitude of China’s ill-activity and take countermeasures too. He further said the investigation into the hacking incident on Microsoft Exchange Server was underway, however, he was certain the Chinese government bore responsibility for the same.

The development adds to a global string of similar bans recently taken against Chinese companies. China has been the target of import bans by Australia and the EU in the past year on account of forced labour concerns, repression against Uyghur Muslims and its mass detention camps. US-China relations have also intensified owing to China’s increasing threats toward Taiwan and its domestic policies in Tibet, and a lot more besides...

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Published July 21st, 2021 at 23:54 IST

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