BEIJING (AP) — China’s new ambassador to the United States takes office amid disputes over trade, access to computer chips and Washington’s support for Taiwan’s self-rule.
Xie Feng arrived in New York on Tuesday and told reporters at JFK airport that relations between the world’s two largest economies are facing “serious difficulties and challenges”.
“We hope the United States will work with China to increase dialogue, manage differences, and also expand our cooperation, so that our relationship can get back on track,” Xie said in remarks delivered in English.
Xie said the “Taiwan issue” would be one of the sensitive issues at the top of his agenda.
Exchanges fell after the Trump administration raised tariffs on key Chinese imports that President Jospeh Biden has maintained since then, while blocking Chinese companies from accessing more computer chip technology advanced
Meanwhile, China has stepped up its threats to attack Taiwan with regular incursions by ships and fighter jets into airspace and waters near the island that have raised concerns of a crisis that threatens the global economy.
Despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations, the United States is the main source of defense cooperation and political support for the island, prompting frequent protests from Beijing. A visit last August by then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi prompted Beijing to launch missiles into the Pacific and send its forces to test a blockade of the Taiwan Strait.
Large-scale exercises were also launched after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the US in April, during which she met with Pelosi’s successor, Kevin McCarthy.
The downing in February of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had flown over the US prompted the US to cancel a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, delaying the resumption of visits interrupted by tight restrictions of travel from China due to COVID-19.
The dialogue has remained on neutral territory, however, with the Communist Party’s top diplomat Wang Yi holding talks with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Vienna earlier this month.
Economic and people-to-people ties also remain strong, with bilateral trade last year also exceeding $690 billion, while an estimated 295,000 Chinese students are enrolled in American colleges and universities .
