Yellen calls China trip ‘constructive’ in midst of US tensions

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called a visit to China “constructive” despite heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“What I can tell you is that I had a very constructive visit. I received a warm welcome, and had [a] very substantive series of meetings,” Yellen said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” in response to a question from moderator Margaret Brennan about whether “tension has been smoothed over” after the Chinese spy balloon incident earlier this year. 

Yellen said she had “around 10 hours of meetings” with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng, finance minister Liu Kun and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) head Pan Gongsheng. 

“We had substantive conversations about the global economy, developments in our own economies, financial markets, and a list of concerns that each of us brought to the table that we agreed to follow up on over time,” Yellen said.

Yellen’s visit to Beijing comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited last month. Blinken’s trip had been initially planned for February, but was postponed amid controversy over the Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. military after it flew over much of the country.

U.S.-China tensions have been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic issues, China’s relationship with Russia amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine, Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and other factors. Yellen and Blinken’s trips have been part of an effort from the U.S. to ease those tensions. 

Yellen during her visit urged cooperation on climate change and other international issues. She also told Brennan that she raised a host of concerns, including the treatment of some American companies at the hands of Chinese authorities.

Yellen also left the door open for an executive order the administration is considering that would put restrictions on what American companies in China could invest in.

“It’s still something being discussed in the administration and the timing of it is not- is not yet certain. But I wanted to explain to my Chinese counterparts that if we go forward with these- with this executive order, that we will do so in a transparent and narrowly targeted way,” she said.