Chronologies
US - China
Chronology from Jan 2021 to May 2021
: US State Department calls for Taiwan to be allowed to participate in the upcoming World Health Assembly.
: In a speech to a joint session of Congress, Biden states that the US is in competition with China “to win the 21st century.”
: Xi Jinping delivers remarks at the US-led Leaders Summit on Climate.
: US Federal Communications Commission institutes new sponsorship identification requirements for foreign government-provided programming, and specifically lists the Chinese government as being involved in media disinformation.
: US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passes the Strategic Competition Act.
: Kerry and China Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua issue a joint statement addressing the Climate Crisis.
: US and Japan issue a Joint Leaders’ Statement, in which they outline joint objections to China’s actions in the East China Sea, South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang.
: Blinken condemns the sentencing of seven prodemocracy leaders in Hong Kong.
: US-China Economic and Security Review Commission holds a hearing on “An Assessment of the CCP’s Economic Ambitions, Plans, and Metrics of Success.”
: Climate Envoy Kerry meets China’s Special Envoy for Climate Affairs Xie Zhenhua in Shanghai to discuss the potential for US-China climate cooperation.
: Former Senator Chris Dodd and former Deputy Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and James Steinberg travel to Taiwan at the request of President Biden.
: US Office of the Director of National Intelligence issues the “2021 Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community” wherein it notes that “China increasingly is a near-peer competitor, challenging the United States in multiple arenas—especially economically, militarily, and technologically—and is pushing to change global norms.”
: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang holds virtual dialogue with board chairmen and CEOs from the US-China Business Council and over 20 US multinational companies.
: Speaking on “Meet the Press,” Secretary Blinken reaffirms the Taiwan Relations Act and states “it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change the existing status quo by force.”
: US Press Secretary Jen Psaki states that Chinese actions around Taiwan are “potentially destabilizing.”
: US issues new contact guidance for US government interactions with Taiwan counterparts, though the details remain classified.
: US Department of Commerce applies export controls on seven Chinese entities for aiding PLA weapons development.
: US 7th Fleet Destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, transits the Taiwan Strait.
: US Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group enters the South China Sea to “conduct routine operations.”
: US Department of State issues the 2021 Hong Kong Policy Act Report, which certifies that Hong Kong does not warrant treatment under US law in the same manner as US laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1, 1997.
: Department of State releases the 2020 Report on Human Rights, which makes official the Biden administration’s charge that China is committing genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
: US Ambassador to Palau, John Hennessey-Niland, visits Taiwan as part of a delegation from Palau.
: China announces sanctions on US and Canadian individuals and entities in retaliation for imposing sanctions on Chinese persons and entities in Xinjiang. The Americans sanctioned include the Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Gayle Manchin, and USCIRF Vice Chair Tony Perkins.
: In a formal press statement, Secretary Blinken condemns PRC sanctions on US officials as “baseless.”
: China calls for boycotts of Western brands that prohibited the use of cotton created in Xinjiang.
: Biden makes extensive remarks on China during his first formal news conference.
: US Securities and Exchange Commission issues interim final amendments to implement the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which, in part, explicitly mandates that companies disclose their association with the Chinese Communist Party.
: Blinken gives a speech at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, titled “Reaffirming and Reimagining America’s Alliances,” which, in part, focuses on China.
: US Climate Envoy John Kerry attends the Ministerial on Climate Action, and meets with China’s Special Envoy for Climate Affairs Xie Zhenhua.
: Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control adds two Chinese nationals to their Specially Designated Nationals List in a set of Myanmar-related sanctions.
: Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions two current Chinese government officials for their connection with human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
: State Department issues a joint statement with Canada and the United Kingdom opposing China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
: Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hold meetings with Secretary Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Anchorage, Alaska.
: State Department issues an updated report on the Hong Kong Autonomy Act to take the changes into account that were made to Hong Kong’s electoral system on March 11.
: US Commerce Department serves subpoenas on multiple Chinese companies that provide information and communications technology and services (ICTS) in the US.
: Asked by a reporter while in Tokyo if the US is considering boycotting the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Secretary Blinken says President Biden is “listening to the concerns” of many countries and will decide what to do at the appropriate time.
: Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing on “Advancing Effective US Policy for Strategic Competition with China in the Twenty-First Century.”
: Treasury Department sanctions 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials over Beijing’s changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system that took place on March 11.
: US and Japan issue a 2+2 statement which says that “China’s behavior, where inconsistent with the existing international order, presents political, economic, military, and technological challenges to the US-Japan Alliance and to the international community.”
: US Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau designates five Chinese companies as posing a threat to national security.
: Secretary Blinken joins G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union in a joint statement condemning changes made to Hong Kong’s electoral laws by China’s National People’s Congress.
: Secretary Blinken issues a press statement condemning China’s assault on Hong Kong’s democratic institutions and basic law.
: USS John Finn, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, transits the Taiwan Strait as part of the US’s “commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
: Wang Yi warns the US to not cross red lines on the one-China Principle.
: Biden releases Interim National Security Strategic Guidance that emphasizes the growing US-China rivalry and the strategic challenges posed by an increasingly assertive China.
: Office of the United States Trade Representative issues its “2021 Trade Policy Agenda and 2020 Annual Report,” in which it makes the “widespread human rights abuses of the Chinese Government’s forced labor program” Xinjiang a top priority.
: USS Curtis Wilbur, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, transits the Taiwan Strait as part of the US’s “commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
: China State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi calls for the US to lift trade restrictions, stop “smearing” the Chinese Communist Party and China’s political system, stop supporting “separatist forces” in Taiwan, and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.
: US delegation to the World Trade Organization (WTO) reiterates its position that the US’s new origin marking requirement for Hong Kong is not subject to adjudication by the WTO as it is a matter of national security for the US.
: Biden asserts that the US and Europe, along with allies in the Indo-Pacific region, must prepare for “long-term strategic competition with China,” while participating in the 2021 Virtual Munich Security Conference.
: US-China Economic and Security Review Commission holds hearing on deterring PRC aggression toward Taiwan.
: USS Russell, a destroyer of the US 7th Fleet, conducts a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea.
: President Biden announces formation of a Department of Defense China Task Force to provide a baseline assessment of department policies, programs, and processes in regard to the challenge that China poses.
: President Biden speaks by phone with President Xi Jinping of China.
: US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley and China Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu hold phone conversation, at the former’s request, to exchange views on the Iranian nuclear issue.
: USS Theodore Roosevelt and Nimitz Carrier Strike Groups conduct dual carrier operations in the South China Sea.
: USS John S. McCain conducts Freedom of Navigation Operation in the South China Sea.
: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin speaks by phone with China’s Director of the Office of the Central Commission of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi.
: US 7th Fleet Destroyer the USS John S. McCain transits the Taiwan Strait.
: Yang Jiechi, Politburo member and director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, gives a speech on US-China relations and prospects for the future at the invitation of the National Committee on US-China Relations.
: Jake Sullivan, national security advisor to President Biden, comments on the US-China relationship, while participating in the US Institute of Peace’s Passing the Baton event.
: US-China Economic and Security Review Commission holds a hearing titled “US-China Relations at the Chinese Communist Party’s Centennial.”
: US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry says at a press conference that the US must deal with China on climate change as a “critical standalone issue,” adding that the Biden administration will not trade concessions on human rights and trade for climate cooperation.
: US Treasury Department delays implementation of a Trump administration ban on Americans investing in companies with suspected ties to the Chinese military from Jan. 28 to May 27, which had been imposed by Donald Trump after he lost the presidential election.
: US State Department urges Beijing to cease military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan in a press release.
: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces sanctions against Trump administration officials including Secretary Pompeo and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.
: Pompeo determines that China has “committed genocide and crimes against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs.”
: China announces the imposition of reciprocal sanctions on US individuals in retaliation for the US imposition of sanctions against six PRC and Hong Kong officials, as well as sanctioning US officials who have “performed badly on the Taiwan question.”
: Pompeo delivers press statement urging the WHO to conduct a thorough investigation of the origin of COVID-19.
: Pompeo announces that the US is sanctioning six PRC and Hong Kong officials after pro-democracy arrests in Hong Kong.
: US Commerce Department adds China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to the Entity List and Skyrizon to the Military End-User List, stating that both “threaten US national security.”
: US Department of Defense releases names of additional companies added to the list of “Communist Chinese military companies” operating in the US.
: Secretary Pompeo delivers a press statement entitled “Protecting and Preserving a Free and Open South China Sea.”
: US abruptly cancels Ambassador Craft’s upcoming trip to Taiwan.
: US announces a ban on the import of cotton and tomatoes from China’s Xinjiang province, alleging some products are made with “slave labor.”
: US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues participates in a virtual meeting with the Dalai Lama.
: China’s Ministry of Commerce issues new rules requiring companies to report if they have been “prohibited or restricted by foreign legislation and other measures from engaging in normal economic, trade and related activities,” in an effort to fight back against commercial bans from the US.
: Secretary Pompeo announces removal of restrictions on official interactions between the US and Taiwan.
: NYSE reverses decision and again announces plan to delist the Chinese state-run telecoms.
: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issues statement condemning China’s arrest of more than 50 prodemocracy politicians and activists. The statement includes an announcement that US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft will visit Taiwan.
: New York Stock Exchange reverses plans to delist three Chinese state-run telecoms groups to comply with a Trump administration executive order that bars US investors from holding stakes in companies with alleged ties to the Chinese military.
: US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin calls NYSE president Stacey Cunningham to say that he disagreed with the exchange’s decision to reverse course on the Chinese Telecom delisting.
: US President Donald Trump signs an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group’s Alipay.