Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in November and agreed to improve relations between the world’s biggest economies and major trading partners. But neither government has shown willingness to make major policy changes.
It expressed hope for “the realization of mutual benefit and win-win results” but did not suggest possible Chinese concessions. The United States has blocked Chinese access to advanced processor chips and other technology on security grounds. Beijing has been slow to retaliate, possibly to avoid disrupting China’s fledgling developers of artificial intelligence and other technologies. But this week, Beijing announced controls on exports of two minerals used in semiconductors and solar panels - gallium and germanium. In May, China banned using products from the biggest U.S. maker of memory chips, Micron Technology Inc.
The United States rejects China’s claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, where Beijing has built artificial islands and stationed naval forces. Chinese claims overlap with those of Vietnam, Malaysia and U.S. ally the Philippines. Washington and its allies have sent warships through the sea to assert their “freedom of naviation.” Beijing rejects that and says the United States is adding to tension over the region.