WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Thursday called for a “constructive” and “healthy” economic relationship between the United States and China, one in which the two nations work together to address challenges such as climate change.
Ms Yellen’s comments, given at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, were remarkably positive about the US-China relationship after months of heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Ms. Yellen stressed the importance of safeguarding US national security interests, as well as protecting human rights. She also stressed that targeted actions taken by the United States against China — such as shutting down the world’s most advanced semiconductor facilities — are purely aimed at protecting US national security.
China has criticized the US restrictions on its technological development, saying they are illegal and a blatant attempt to weaken the Chinese economy. Mrs. Yellen tried to allay those concerns.
“These national security actions are not designed to gain an economic competitive advantage or suppress China’s economic and technological modernization,” Ms Yellen said. “While these policies may have economic consequences, they are driven by simple considerations of national security.”
She also highlighted the strength of the US economy, noting that the United States’ economic output remains far greater than China’s.
Relations between the two nations have been strained recently, including a diplomatic blast in February after a Chinese spy balloon crossed the United States before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean. Both Republicans and Democrats continue to describe China as an obvious economic rival and a threat to security.
Tensions also remain high over the future of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. And many U.S. officials have lost patience with the idea of bringing China into the rules-based international system, arguing that efforts to do so over the past few decades have failed to sufficiently improve its business practices.
But Ms. Yellen argued that competition between the United States and China can lead to mutual improvement, within certain parameters.
“Sports teams perform at a higher level when they consistently face top rivals,” she said. “But this kind of healthy competition is only sustainable if it’s fair for both sides.” China has long used government aid to help its companies at the expense of foreign competitors, and its industrial policies “have become more ambitious and complex,” Ms Yellen said.
