China Takes a Conciliatory Tone Amid US Sanctions Amid Election Season

Chinese diplomats have dialed down their aggressiveness in recent weeks, signaling a willingness to work with the US despite rounds of US sanctions targeting China's technology companies and officials in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Beijing's shifting approach reflects an effort to minimize further antagonism during the US election season, with experts saying China is adopting "targeted, proportionate, and surgical" responses to US actions. However, with no clear signs of a reversal in the downward spiral of ties, China's prospects for a quick improvement in relations with the US appear slim.

Key Takeaways:

• China has adjusted its approach to the US, adopting "targeted, proportionate, and surgical" responses to US actions, according to political risk analyst Feng Chucheng.
• Beijing has avoided going after Trump's inner circle in retaliation for US sanctions, instead focusing on proportionate measures such as imposing sanctions on specific US officials.
• China's diplomats have reportedly been instructed to tone down their behavior, with the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, calling for a "tough slog" to improve ties with the US.
• The Chinese government has announced that it will not blacklist US companies on an "unreliable entities list" in retaliation for Washington's blacklisting of Chinese telecoms group Huawei, despite announcing this plan in May last year.
• China has doubled down on its prognosis that ties will worsen unless serious disagreements are shelved, with state councillor Yang Jiechi warning that confrontation between China and the US would be a "disaster".
• Meanwhile, China has continued to engage in displays of military strength in the South China Sea and over Taiwan, despite the rhetoric of conciliation.

Statistics:

• Since early July, China's top diplomats have been on a media blitz to send a signal that Beijing is willing to talk and wants to stop the worse relations with Washington.
• The phase one trade deal between China and the US was signed in January.
• The US has imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over the internment of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang and a state security law in Hong Kong.
• China has responded with sanctions on specific US officials, including senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Sources:

• Beijing is always ready to work with the United States, said Zhao Lijian, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman and a previous proponent of theories linking the US military to the outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan, on Monday (Xinhua News Agency).
• China has been very cautious, said Feng Chucheng, a political risk analyst and partner at the independent research firm Plenum.
• China has leashed its socalled "wolf warrior" diplomats, named after a blockbuster Chinese action film featuring a special ops agent who prefers to shoot his way out of conflicts (BBC News).
• China's top diplomats have been on a media blitz to send a signal that Beijing is willing to talk and wants to stop the worse relations with Washington (The New York Times).
• Yang Jiechi, a state councillor who outranks Mr Wang in the Communist party hierarchy, last week wrote that confrontation between China and the US would be a "disaster" (Financial Times).