Setting up a new joint secretariat could be key to keeping engagement between the world's leading economies on track.
U.S. and Chinese officials meeting during the second U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, at the State Department in Washington, November 9, 2018. Credit: Ministry of National Defense
The telephone rang and rang in Beijing on February 4, 2023. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was attempting to call China’s defense minister, Wei Fenghe, to explain why two American F-22 fighter jets had been dispatched to shoot down an errant Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina. Minister Wei (who has subsequently been replaced by Li Shangfu) never took the call. His spokesperson claimed that a hyper-reactive U.S. had not created “the proper atmosphere” for an exchange of views. The day before, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had canceled an eagerly awaited trip to Beijing. A long-troubled relationship had quickly gone from bad to worse.
In retrospect, this was hardly surprising. In the past five years, the two superpowers have descended into a trade war, a tech war, and now a new cold war. Starting with the balloon fiasco, the downward spiral has intensified, involving acrimonious exchanges between leading diplomats on both s
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative under Donald Trump, reflects on his decision to launch the trade war with China and begin the process of "strategic decoupling" — a process he says the U.S. must see through to the end.
