East Asia Forum (January 23) published an article on the current state of Sino-US relations by Jia Qingguo,
CPPCC member, former Dean of Peking University’s International Relations School, and a US expert, where
he traced the slide in Sino-US ties. Titled 'Waiting for spring to come in China–US relations', Jia Qingguo
said that despite some cooperation on issues, like climate change, the conflict between the two sides has
increased, Taiwan is the single contentious issue. Jia Qingguo said the push by Taiwan authorities "for
independence coupled with increasing US endorsement and support elicited a tougher stance from China",
and "the vicious cycle of interactions between Beijing, Taipei and Washington increased the likelihood of a
military showdown". He said despite the November 16 virtual summit meeting between Chinese President
Xi Jinping and Biden on 16 November for setting guard rails for the relationship the most recent bickering
includes a US official boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, sanctions over Xinjiang and Chinese
retaliation. He assessed that these factors are unlikely to change in the short run, and "the 2022 mid-term
elections bode ill for China–US relations because the Republicans who stand on an even tougher policy
toward China appear likely to win. Under these circumstances, the Biden administration is unlikely to be
able to advance a pragmatic approach toward China. Ahead of the 20th Party Congress, China is also unlikely
to compromise". Jia Qingguo concluded that "the stabilisation and improvement of China–US relations is
likely to remain a distant prospect for some time yet"
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