US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined the Chinese premier for a panel at a summit in Paris, her first appearance in months with a senior government official from China.
“I am pleased to share this stage with colleagues from around the world, including Premier Li Qiang,” Yellen said. “As the world’s two largest economies, we also have a responsibility to work together on global issues. It is something the world expects of us,” she added.
Their discussion on global challenges including debt and climate change comes amid growing US efforts to revive engagement with Beijing after a broader deterioration of relations.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to China last week, becoming the most-senior US official to visit the country in five years as the US looks to ease tensions that have provoked fears of an open conflict.
In a setback earlier this week, US President Joe Biden referred to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a “dictator,” comments China said were a “public political provocation.”
Yellen for months has said she intends to visit Beijing, but continuing bilateral tensions over Taiwan, trade, conflicting claims regarding the South China Sea and the flight of a Chinese balloon over the US have left the plans in limbo.
While Yellen has said the Biden administration is prepared to accept economic costs as it seeks to protect US national security interests from threats posed by China, she has appealed to Beijing to cooperate on shared global concerns, including climate change and macroeconomic stability.
Source : The Penisula Qatar
