The United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is scheduled to meet China’s new ambassador Qin Gang on Thursday. The meeting will take place in the afternoon at the State Department in Washington.
The meeting is between the two largest economies on navigating deeply strained relations. 55-year-old Gang has earned a reputation of often pointing to public defenses for his country’s proposition and struck an optimistic tone after he arrived in Washington in late July. He said great potential awaits bilateral relations. According to AsiaOne Magazine, the high-level talks in China last week in July ended with both sides signaling that the other must make concessions for ties to improve the relations. Gang replaced China’s longest-serving ambassador to the United States, Cui Tianai who was 68 years old. Last month Cui Tiankai announced his departure from Washington after his eight years stay.
China’s Foreign Ministry has signaled there could be preconditions for the United States that any kind of cooperation can be contingent. Analysts believe that such a stance leaves dim prospects for improved ties as the relations between Beijing and Washington deteriorated sharply under former President Donald Trump. Since Biden took the office he is seen pressurising China on vowing that it won’t replace the US as the world’s global leader in his watch.
