In Beijing, Yellen aims to get U.S.-China relations back on an even keel
Today, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke at a roundtable in Beijing of representatives from U.S. companies doing business in China. While there, she is also meeting with Chinese leaders past and present.
Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal is in China, traveling with the Treasury Secretary’s press pool. He joins David Brancaccio from Beijing.
The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
David Brancaccio: I thought the Biden administration was decoupling from China. The Treasury Secretary says no, that’s not what’s happening.
Kai Ryssdal: Oh, yeah. No, if you ask Janet Yellen, about decoupling, she will definitely give you a very dirty look. They’re being very emphatic here — Yellen and her staff — that what is happening is America is looking out for its own national security interests, and trying to improve its own internal economic situation, but definitely not decoupling.
Brancaccio: So clearly, Secretary Yellen is trying to highlight areas of common ground?
Ryssdal: Yeah, I think, you know, Secretary Yellen is over here representing American interests, of course, but she does want to see, No. 1, tensions come down, right things are not great between the United States and China right now. And when you’ve got the two biggest economies in the world, not really getting on, that’s not really a good thing. She is being very calm, I guess, is a word you would use. And Janet Yellen is a calm woman. She’s very steady, right. And she wants to make sure that everybody understands that America knows it’s in our best interest to have a good relationship with China. She is trying to convince the Chinese of the same thing. And look, she is well liked over here. She is well respected, because she is not a natural born politician and has not come up through the ranks that way, but rather, as an economist and a very serious policy woman. She brings a gravitas that the Chinese appreciate.
Brancaccio: One quote from Janet Yellen, when she was speaking to executives from some big U.S. based companies is getting some attention this morning. The Secretary said, “I’ve been particularly troubled by punitive actions that have been taken against U.S. firms in recent months.” What do you make of that?
Ryssdal: Yeah, it’s interesting. I’ve obviously been following the news in the coverage of that quote. I was in the room when she read her prepared remarks. And I’ll tell you, I think it’s probably the difference between print and audio. That was a line buried inside a mid-range paragraph in a page and a half statement. It was not delivered with any emphasis, it was not delivered at all in a special way. And I think what has happened is that people have taken that line and run with it.
Brancaccio: But Yellen did hear other issues from U.S. executives, you were there for that?
Kai Ryssdal: Oh, yeah. And look, she has been hearing from American executives about some of the things that have happened, right. And Chinese employees of American companies have been arrested and detained. There are laws here — a new espionage law has been passed that is giving American executives some pause. And let’s remember, she was speaking to the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. So she knew her audience. That said, this remark is, I don’t believe what Yellen would want to be highlighted because she really, really wants the American relationship to be steady. She wants it to be calmed a little bit, the American relationship with China, and at the same time knows that she has to look out for American companies.