SHANGHAI – A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in China on Saturday within the first congressional go to to the nation since 2019.
The journey comes amid a pointy deterioration in relations between the 2 international locations and as Chinese and U.S. officers attempt to lay the groundwork for a doable assembly between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November.
The delegation of six senators – three Democrats and three Republicans – landed in Shanghai on a U.S. authorities jet on an overcast and windy afternoon. The Republicans had been led by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, the senior member of his get together on the Senate Finance Committee.
Asked about his expectations for the go to, Schumer, a Democrat from New York, mentioned he hoped it will be productive.
A sequence of high-ranking Biden administration officers have met their Chinese counterparts in Beijing in current months, however no different U.S lawmakers have made the journey since China lifted its COVID-19 restrictions in December 2022.
China, in an announcement earlier this week, mentioned it hoped the go to would “contribute to a more objective understanding of China in the U.S. Congress.”
In a reminder of the tensions between the 2 international locations, China’s commerce ministry mentioned Saturday that new U.S. restrictions positioned on 42 Chinese corporations had been ‘a typical act of financial coercion and unilateral bullying.”
The U.S. Commerce Department added the Chinese companies and seven others to its entity list on Friday. It said the companies supplied “U.S.-origin” semiconductors that Russia uses for missile guidance systems and drones in the war against Ukraine. American companies cannot export to organizations on the entity list without obtaining a special license.
Schumer’s office said the visit would focus on the need for reciprocity from China for U.S. business in trade and on maintaining American leadership in advanced technologies for national security. He also hoped to discuss human rights, fentanyl production and China’s role in the international community, as well as areas for potential cooperation.
A smooth visit could help pave the way for a Biden-Xi summit during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting of leaders in San Francisco next month. The senators hope to meet Xi in Beijing during their visit.
A Chinese international relations expert said that Schumer’s visit is a sign of improvement in China-U.S. relations.
“If the talks proceed nicely, there’s the likelihood that President Xi will meet Schumer,” said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China. “If their assembly is realized, the probabilities for a Xi-Biden assembly will change into higher.”
The White House has been in contact with Schumer and helps the delegation’s go to to the area, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned after the journey was introduced. The senators will go to South Korea and Japan after their cease in China.