It is the first meeting in China with a top U.S. official since 2019. Ordinarily this would be met with a great deal of fanfare in the Chinese media. But, due to the frosty relationship between the two countries, there is still a great deal of caution on the Chinese side with regard to U.S. intentions. It is also the case that, in addition to the Kerry visit in Shanghai, Biden had also sent his friend and colleague, former Senator Chris Dodd, to Taiwan to visit, probably in order to send a signal to the Chinese that the Kerry visit does not indicate a change from the hard-edged policy toward China. China’s Foreign Ministry also used the occasion to again warn the U.S. to not play the “Taiwan card.”
While Kerry is supposed to be the “soft cop” for the U.S.-China relationship, he also made some rather obstreperous comments about China’s sincerity in reaching its acclaimed goals of being carbon-free by 2060. He also cast doubt on the accuracy of some of China’s figures with regard to their progress in the matter. The confrontational “Anchorage approach” seems to radiate throughout the Biden administration.
