CHINA-U.S.: U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE WENDY SHERMAN'S MEETS CHINESE VICE FOREIGN MINISTER XIE FENG AND CALLS ON FOREIGN MINISTER WANG YI IN TIANJIN

The readouts from the US State Department and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Shrerman-Xie Feng meeting were quite different with the US stressing that the meeting was with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Chinese that it was between Wendy Sherman and Xie Feng. Both sides were obviously targeting their message to their respective domestic audiences. Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, on July 27 reported that the US had proposed Sherman’s trip in May and that the talks with Wang – which took place after her meeting with Xie – were arranged out of courtesy. It pointed to Xie Feng briefing the media after the pair met, saying he had handed Sherman Beijing’s list of grievances and red line issues in their formal talks. The US statement, in contrast, only mentioned Wang Yi. In the talks, Sherman raised human rights in Xinjiang and the political crackdown in Hong Kong, cybersecurity, the situation in the Taiwan Strait as well as the East and South China seas, the detention of American and Canadian citizens in China, and Beijing’s refusal to cooperate with the World Health Organization’s second inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, according to the US State Department. She also reaffirmed cooperation in areas like nuclear proliferation and climate change. State Department spokesman Ned Price said “The deputy secretary raised concerns in private – as we have in public – about a range of PRC actions that run counter to our values and interests and those of our allies and partners, and that undermine the international rules-based order.” According to Beijing, Xie Feng handed over two lists: the issues it wants the US to take action on – including lifting visa restrictions on Communist Party members, their families and Chinese students – and a list of key concerns. Chinese Foreign Vice Minister Xie Feng said two lists were given to visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in Tianjin on July 26. One sets out “wrongdoings” that China wants the US to correct, including lifting visa restrictions on Communist Party members, dropping its request to extradite Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou from Canada, and ending a requirement for Chinese media to register as foreign agents in the US. A separate list of “grave concerns” includes cases of Chinese student visas being rejected, according to the foreign ministry. The US State Department did not indicate how she had responded. In a separate meeting with Sherman, Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the US not to challenge or seek to subvert China’s model of governance, to lift sanctions imposed over Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and to respect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The South China Morning Post (JUly 26) noted that China said the talks were candid and useful while the US said they discussed “ways to set terms for responsible management of the US-China relationship”. The US State Department spokesman (July 26) said the two sides had "a frank and open discussion about a range of issues, demonstrating the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between our two countries. They discussed ways to set terms for responsible management of the U.S-China relationship". "The Deputy Secretary affirmed the importance of cooperation in areas of global interest, such as the climate crisis, counternarcotics, nonproliferation, and regional concerns including DPRK, Iran, Afghanistan, and Burma".

(COMMENT: Writing for Ziyou Yazhou diantai (Radio Free Asia) on 27 July 2021, Liang Jiang observed that the so-called ‘error correction list’ proposed by the Chinese side actually requires the US to revoke the visa ban on CPC members and their families. He said this is a quite specific and yet delphic request, containing much that is inconvenient for the Chinese side to state outright. He added Chinese netizens have pointed out that the Chinese side’s request  is about the CPC’s concern with the overseas assets and relatives’ interests of its senior officials and cronies, surpassing that with the national interest. This is certainly the case. The first implication is that China has indeed expressed willingness to resume normal personnel exchanges when the epidemic is over, but in the same moment posed a threat to the US. The US, that is, cannot on the one hand expect to prevent Party loyalists from going to the US while at the same time being open to the common people. In other words, if the US does not agree to withdraw the visa ban on Party members and their families, the CPC may retaliate by restricting travel to the US by citizens across the board. Would the US accept this? That Washington did not immediately state its position is understandable: it goes to the bigger question of how quickly and how far the US will decouple from China. The second implication was to inform Chinese people that if they don’t go along with the Party’s rule, don’t think of going abroad, least of all to the US. It is seriously considering, this signals, a policy of comprehensively controlling travel abroad.  The third implication is that the CPC will completely impose the Party-state on the domestic social order.* This means that CPC members and family will not only be a political status, it will  be one that enjoys social privileges in an institutionalised manner. In fact, since last year, the CPC has substantially increased its direct subsidies to grassroots party members. This is a more systematic control measure for Chinese society. In other words, no matter how the US responds to the so-called ‘correction list’ proposed by the Chinese side, it will not actually change Xi Jinping’s plan to transform China into North Korea. Beijing will however say that all of this was forced by the Americans.)






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