China's new ambassador to the United States arrived in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, as the US and Chinese governments have expressed a desire to restore relations between their countries.
Xie Feng stated that he intends to improve US-China relations despite "severe difficulties and challenges."
New Chinese Ambassador to the US
As per CNN, the arrival of Xie Feng as Beijing's top envoy follows tumultuous relations between Washington and Beijing. Tensions escalated after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China earlier this year after a Chinese surveillance aircraft crossed the United States.
In recent weeks, however, there have been indications that the tensions are easing. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese official Wang Yi in Vienna. In the coming weeks, China's Commerce Minister may meet with senior US commerce and trade officials in the United States.
President Joe Biden stated last weekend in Japan that following the incident with the surveillance balloon, "everything changed in talking to one another, but " think you're going to see that begin to thaw very shortly."
Xie stated on Tuesday that he looks forward to "appropriately managing sensitive and crucial issues, such as the Taiwan issue," as well as engaging with Americans "from all walks of life."
Qin Gang, who departed Washington in January to become China's foreign minister, is succeeded by Xie, who previously served as vice foreign minister.
Xie is a career diplomat and expert on US-China relations, but he needs Qin's intimate ties to the Chinese leadership. According to Yahoo, his predecessor's direct channel to Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping propelled him to the position of foreign minister.
Xie arrives in Washington when US-China relations are at a 50-year low due to trade tensions, the Chinese surveillance balloon incident in February, and Taiwan-related tensions.
US-China Relationships
In a March speech, Xi Jinping accused the United States and other Western nations of "global containment, encirclement, and suppression against us, posing unprecedentedly grievous challenges to our country's development." This animosity has effectively suspended high-level diplomatic engagement since Biden's November meeting with Xi in Bali, Indonesia.
However, the advent of Xie suggests that Beijing may wish to reduce bilateral hostility. And it follows a two-day meeting between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, earlier this month in Vienna that both parties described as "frank, substantive, and constructive."
During a news conference Sunday after the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden predicted that bilateral relations will "begin to normalize very shortly." Xie's dispatch from Beijing follows Biden's prediction.
Xie, age 59, has most recently served as vice foreign minister in charge of US policy. Fluent in English and previously posted twice to China's embassy in Washington, Xie lodged China's formal denunciation in February, accusing the United States of "obstinately" shooting down a Chinese surveillance balloon after its voyage over the United States sparked a diplomatic crisis.
Per Reuters, Beijing has stated that the aircraft was civilian. The United States, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, welcomed Xie's arrival. Xie had taken an aggressive stance in previous meetings with Biden administration officials, including when he hosted Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in 2021 in Tianjin and demanded that the US improve relations with China while accusing the US of creating an "imaginary enemy" in China.
Nonetheless, Xie's presence at the embassy post, which has been vacant since his predecessor Qin Gang was promoted to foreign minister late last year, could assist Beijing in deflecting accusations that it has disregarded the Biden administration's calls for increased engagement.
