Yellen opens Beijing trip by criticizing China on treatment of US companies

Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen opened her trip to Beijing by criticizing Chinese treatment of U.S. companies, pointing out the conditions that they have faced while operating in China, according to a New York Times report. 

Speaking Friday to a group of executives from some top U.S. businesses, Yellen attacked the Chinese government’s treatment of companies with foreign connections and its recent decision to place export controls on materials used to make semiconductor chips. 

She said at an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China that she is sharing the concerns she has heard from U.S. business leaders with her Chinese counterparts during her trip, including the creation of barriers for foreign companies to access the market. 

“I’ve been particularly troubled by punitive actions that have been taken against U.S. firms in recent months,” she said. 

Yellen’s trip is part of an effort from U.S. officials to ease what have been increasingly rising tensions with China in recent months; Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited last month with the same goal. 

The U.S. and China recently had a couple of close calls of vessels and jets nearly colliding in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. 

The Biden administration placed technology restrictions on China last year, and China has responded with greater scrutiny of U.S. companies. 

The Times reported that Yellen said an additional U.S. response to the export controls would be coming. 

An official from the Chinese finance ministry expressed hope that economic relations would be improved between the two countries following Yellen’s meetings with Chinese officials, according to the Times. They said neither China nor the U.S. would benefit from “decoupling” and disrupting supply chains. 

The Times reported that Yellen expressed her issues with Chinese policy while meeting with top Chinese officials, including Premier Li Qiang. 

She also has met with former Vice Premier Liu He and outgoing governor of the People’s Bank of China Yi Gang, with a Treasury Department official telling the outlet that it was for informal talks on the economic outlook.