American senators came to China for the first time since 2019

A US Senate delegation led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in Shanghai on October 7. The visit to China is one of the points on the legislators’ Asian tour, which also includes visits to South Korea and Japan. This is the first trip of a US congressional delegation to China since 2019.

Upon arrival, Schumer declared the United States’ readiness to “compete with China,” but stressed that Washington did not want conflict. The senator also voiced the concerns of American businesses operating in China. He noted that US companies are concerned about unfair treatment by the Chinese authorities. In addition, issues related to human rights, the fight against fentanyl smuggling into the United States, and potential areas of cooperation between the two countries may be on the agenda. The group’s plans also include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The American guests were met by the secretary of the Shanghai City Committee, Chen Jining. According to the Associated Press, the official limited himself to statements about the potential for “healthy and stable” US-China relations, which, according to him, would be beneficial to the whole world. Jining also mentioned that 5,640 American companies operate in Shanghai, and emphasized the readiness to discuss the development of trade relations.

Moreover, the day before the arrival of the senators, on October 6, the US Department of Commerce added 42 Chinese legal entities to the sanctions list. The department’s website states that these companies sold integrated circuits of American origin to suppliers “associated with the Russian military-industrial complex.”

US-China relations sharply deteriorated in February 2023 after an incident involving a Chinese balloon entering US airspace. Washington claimed that it served as a spy balloon, which is why President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot down the device. This was followed by mutual sanctions and the cancellation of visits by senior members of the American administration to China planned from November 2022 (from the meeting between Biden and Xi in Bali). But in the summer, the dialogue between Washington and Beijing began to gradually recover.

In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing, and US Treasury Secretary Jeannette Yellen and US Presidential Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry went there in July. Also in July, a meeting took place between Henry Kissinger and Xi. In early September, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also visited China. On September 16–17, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta. The last meeting between Chinese and American officials (Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice Chairman Han Zheng) took place on September 18 in New York.

American senators represent regions with varying degrees of involvement in relations with China, and some of them depend very heavily on Beijing, says Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics. It’s important for politicians to show with such a visit that they care about their state’s economy, he adds. At the same time, one of the purposes of the Schumer mission’s trip may be an attempt by the US authorities to also use the parliamentary communication channel with the PRC.

Xi previously hosted similar delegations, since the Chinese were not interested in deteriorating relations with the United States, Kashin emphasizes. But at the moment, relations between China and the United States have deteriorated so much that he may consider a meeting with US senators pointless, Kashin says.

In the current situation, the Biden administration is sending Beijing a number of signals about its reluctance to worsen interstate relations, says Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Sumer is an ideal person for this purpose. Representing New York in the Senate, he is not an ideological politician at all, but rather a broker who is ready to participate in a variety of transactions, Vasiliev adds.

Taking into account what is happening in Ukraine and the Middle East, the main goal of the United States is probably to prevent China from taking advantage of the window of opportunity and escalating the conflict around Taiwan, the expert believes.

Whether Schumer’s mission will be able to convey to the Chinese that a bad peace is better than a good quarrel is still a big question, the analyst believes. Economically, it is now important for Washington to prevent a reduction in cheap imports from China, as this could trigger a recession in the United States.