WASHINGTON, D.C.: US and Chinese officials held a "productive" first meeting on Monday of a new economic working group, the Treasury Department said, as both countries seek to steady ties. The economic working group was set up after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Beijing in July, where she met high-level officials including Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. While the United States has said it now sees China as its top geopolitical rival, China has pushed back over what it calls a US policy of containment and encirclement against it in the Pacific and elsewhere. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a visit to China in August that the United States was seeking a more normalized relationship with the world's second-biggest economy. Last week, the United States accused China of orchestrating a "concerted" campaign of dangerous and provocative air force maneuvers against US military planes in international airspace, warning such moves could spark inadvertent conflict.

Source: Manila Times October 25, 2023 11:15 UTC