Beijing official says relations are at a ‘dead end’

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The flag of the United States and China stands behind a microphone waiting for then-U.S. Senator John McCain to arrive at a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on April 9, 2009.

Frederick J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

BEIJING – Another high-level meeting between US and Chinese officials – this time in the Chinese city of Tianjin, outside Beijing – began with criticism.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said during talks Monday with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman that the two countries’ relationship “is now in a stalemate and facing serious difficulties,” according to an English-language press release issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. .

“Mainly, this is because some Americans portray China as an ‘imagined enemy,'” the statement said, adding, “We urge the United States to change its highly misguided mentality and dangerous policy.”

The statement said, however, that China still wanted to work with the United States, on the condition that leaders “change course” and adhere to Chinese interests.

The US Embassy in Beijing had no immediate comment when contacted by CNBC.

Tensions between the United States and China have risen in the past several years. Former US President Donald Trump used tariffs and sanctions to try to counter long-standing criticisms against China, such as unequal market access, lack of intellectual property protection, and forcing companies to transfer technology in order to operate in the country.

Sherman is visiting China to meet with her counterparts there on Sunday and Monday.

In a briefing with reporters at the weekend, senior State Department officials said the purpose of the meeting was not to negotiate, but rather to try to keep high-level channels of communication open.

US officials expected to meet Xie first, and then Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi second.

Leaders are expected to work toward the first meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, likely around the G-20 summit in October.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price told a news briefing Wednesday that Sherman will be traveling to China “from a position of strength,” similar to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s meeting with his Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska.

That rally began in March, the first high-level meeting between the two countries under Biden’s administration with an exchange of insults.

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In subsequent months, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who led trade negotiations during the Trump administration, had phone calls with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Trade Representative Catherine Tai. Those talks focused on the economy have been much friendlier, according to official readings.

America’s tough stance on China

Biden has not only maintained his predecessor Trump’s tough stance on China, but has criticized Beijing over alleged human rights abuses and is working more with US allies to put pressure on China more generally.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to travel to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines, while Blinken will visit India.

Both the US and China “have a lot at stake” in working toward a Biden-Xi meeting, and will try to show the relationship “doesn’t completely go off track” while Michael Hirson, head of training for China and Northeast Asia at the Eurasia Group, said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

He said Biden was able to persuade G7 nations to make strong statements against China, but “has not yet developed a trade strategy or other approach that would be really effective in countering China’s economic power.”

CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report.

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