Top China Diplomat Warns of Decoupling Risk Even as Ties Improve

(Bloomberg) -- China’s top diplomat warned the US that decoupling would be “self defeating” as the country set out to implement a recent agreement made between their leaders.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Musk’s Drug Use Concerns Tesla, SpaceX Leaders, WSJ Says

• Boeing Max Grounding Goes Global as Carriers Follow FAA Order

• Boeing 737 Max Blowout Points to Pervasive Flaws

• Ackman Plans to Check MIT’s Kornbluth, Staff for Plagiarism

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking on Friday at an event to mark the 45th anniversary of US-China diplomatic relations, cited a slew of initiatives that reflect improved ties including streamlined visas for US travelers, a counternarcotics working group to battle the flow of the synthetic fentanyl to the US, and the sending of pandas to the US by the end of the year.

“Any decoupling attempt to stem the tide will only be counterproductive and self defeating,” Wang said.

David Meale, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, joined Friday’s event as chargé d’affaires with Ambassador Nicholas Burns out of town.

Tensions between China and the US started to ease after President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in November. The talks resulted in a resumption of high-level military-to-military ties, a promise to collaborate on the fentanyl problem and a commitment to boost interactions between people in the two countries.

READ: Here’s Everything Biden, Xi Agreed to at High-Stakes Summit

While visiting San Francisco, Xi announced a plan to invite 50,000 young Americans to participate in exchange and study programs in China within the next five years.

But underscoring the fragility of the relationship, Beijing on Thursday blasted Washington for “wantonly suppressing and ill-treating” Chinese students going to the US over visa issues. The US had deported dozens of Chinese nationals arriving in the country every month for the past few months, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a regular press briefing.

Last month, China imposed sanctions on a US company and two researchers over work related to Xinjiang, escalating a dispute between the nations over allegations of forced labor.

Simmering tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwanese presidential elections next week could inject further uncertainty into ties between the world’s two largest economies.

“We have no intention to displace or lord over anyone, still less to seek hegemony,” Wang Yi said.

Read More: US, China Hold Competing Military Drills in South China Sea

Friday’s event was hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs.

--With assistance from Evelyn Yu.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Why America’s Car Buyers Are Rethinking EVs

• Eight Tech Products That Could Define 2024

• Gen Zers Who Want the Buzz But Not the Hangover Are Fueling a Nonalcoholic Spirits Boom

• These Are the Five Potential Trouble Spots That Could Knock the Global Economy Off Course

• AI Hallucinations Are a Boon to Creatives

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.