Chronologies
US - China
Chronology from May 2024 to Dec 2024
: 400;">: US Consulate General in Hong Kong & Macau releases updated summary of their tracking list on “Arrests Under 2020 National Security Law (NSL) and 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) in Hong Kong.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement condemning the “unjust sentencing” of PRC journalist Dong Yuyu, saying it “highlight[s] the PRC’s failure to live up to its commitments under international law and its own constitutional guarantees to all its citizens” and calling for his immediate release
: 400;">: US Department of State updates its Travel Advisory for Mainland China and Hong Kong, shifting them from Level 3 (“Reconsider travel”) to Level 2 (“Exercise increased caution”).
: 400;">: A US Navy P-8A Poseidon transits the Taiwan Strait in international airspace “operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting Statement that, among other notes, states their desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and “readiness to cooperate with China to address global challenges,” recognizes the “importance of China in global trade,” and calls on China to “refrain from adopting export control measures” and “step up efforts to promote international peace and security,” especially in regards to Russia, North Korea, and the East and South China Seas.
: 400;">: US Department of Homeland Security announces the addition of 29 PRC-based companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, bringing the total number of entities on the UFLPA Entity List to 107.
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement condemning the “unjust sentencing” of 45 defendants in Hong Kong’s National Security Law trial of pro-democracy advocates known as the NSL 47, stating such “harsh sentences erode confidence in Hong Kong’s judicial system and harm the city’s international reputation” and calling on the PRC government and Hong Kong authorities to uphold Hong Kong’s judicial independence.
: 400;">: US Department of Homeland Security completes a third large-frame charter removal flight to China of Chinese nationals with no lawful basis to remain in the United States in “yet another example of the Department’s ongoing cooperation with the PRC.”
: 400;">: Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meet in Lima, Peru and hold a “candid, constructive discussion on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including areas of cooperation and areas of difference,” both stressing the importance of “all countries treating each other with respect and finding a way to live alongside each other peacefully.”
: 400;">: US Attorney General Merrick Garland states “[w]e know that the fentanyl supply chain, which ends with the death of Americans, often starts with chemical companies in China.”
: 400;">: US Department of Homeland Security announces the indictment of a Chinese chemical company and its senior leaders for allegedly selling fentanyl precursor chemicals and xylazine globally.
: 400;">: US FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) release a joint statement on the continued investigation into the PRC’s “targeting of commercial telecommunications infrastructure has revealed a broad and significant cyber espionage campaign,” noting that actors have been identified.
: 400;">: US Department of State, along with China and Azerbaijan, jointly convene “The Sprint to Cut Climate Super Pollutants: COP 29 Summit on Methane and Non-CO2 GHGs” to collaboratively battle and bring attention to super pollutant greenhouse gases.
: 400;">: President Biden extends the national emergency with respect to the threat from securities investments that finance certain companies of China for one year beyond its expiration date of November 12, 2024 as the “PRC military-industrial complex…continues to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat.”
: 400;">: Representatives from US Indo-Pacific Command, US Pacific Fleet, US Pacific Air Forces, and US Coast Guard travel to Qingdao, China to meet with PLA Army, Navy, and Air Force for the semi-annual working group and annual plenary session of the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, meetings which “serve to clarify intent and reduce the risk of misperception, miscalculation, or accidents, and therefore help foster stability within the US-PRC military-to-military relationship.”
: 400;">: US Department of Homeland Security adds three PRC-based textile companies to the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.
: 400;">: US Department of State announces, along with the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce, the sanctioning of nearly 400 entities and individuals, including entities in the People’s Republic of China, for “enabling Russia’s prosecution of its illegal war.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a fact sheet reflecting on the Department’s last three years of efforts to strengthen national security, in which the first critical missions listed is the successful establishment of the Office of China Coordination, also known as “China House,” a “whole-of-enterprise approach to strategic competition and diplomatic relations with the PRC.”
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Brent Neiman and Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China Xuan Changneng co-lead the sixth meeting of the Financial Working Group in Washington, DC, discussing both concerns and cooperation.
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury issues a final rule to implement Executive Order 14105, “Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern,” in which the PRC had been identified as a country of concern.
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury’s Under Secretary for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh and Vice Minister of Finance at China’s Ministry of Finance Liao Min co-lead the sixth meeting of the Economic Working Group in Washington, DC, discussing both concerns and cooperation.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice announces the indictments placed against eight China-based chemical companies and eight employees who are charged with alleged fentanyl manufacturing and distribution.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would help establish a new program to prevent access to US bulk sensitive data by China and other countries of concern.
: 400;">: guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) and Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) conduct a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait “in accordance with international law…through a high seas corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.”
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announces sanctions on three PRC-based entities and one individual for their involvement in the development and production of Russia’s Garpiya series long-range attack drone that has been used in Russia’s war against Ukraine, marking the first US sanctions imposed on PRC entities directly developing and producing complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms.
: 400;">: US Department of Defense releases a statement on the PLA exercise, JOINT SWORD 2024B, conducted around Taiwan the day after Taiwan’s national day, calling this “military pressure operation…irresponsible, disproportionate, and destabilizing” while concluding that the US remains committed to its longstanding one China policy.
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement expressing serious concerns over the “unwarranted” PLA joint military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan.
: 400;">: US Secretary of State Blinken, responding to a press question in Laos on potential Chinese military activities near Taiwan on Taiwan’s National Day, states “China should not use [the so-called 10/10 speech] in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions…we want to reinforce…the imperative of preserving the status quo.”
: 400;">: US Secretary of State Blinken participates in the 19th East Asia Summit during which he addresses the “PRC’s provocations” in the South China Sea and East China Sea and reaffirms the “US commitment to maintaining open channels of communication with the PRC.”
: 400;">: US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo conducts a call with Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China Wang Wentao to candidly exchange concerns and maintain an open channel of communication.
: 400;">: US Secretary of State Blinken releases a congratulatory message to the people of the PRC on the occasion of its 75th National Day, adding that the US is “committed to responsibly managing our bilateral relationship with the PRC and will maintain open lines of communication.”
: 400;">: Department of Homeland Security adds two China-based entities, one steel company and one aspartame company, to the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.
: 400;">: US naval forces, alongside counterparts from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines, conduct a Maritime Cooperative Activity within the Philippines” Exclusive Economic Zone in the South China Sea to demonstrate their “shared commitment to the rules-based international order.”
: 400;">: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets PRC Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the margins of the 79th UN General Assembly and hold “candid, substantive, and productive discussions on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues” while emphasizing the need to maintain open lines of communication.
: 400;">: US Embassy in China highlights information about a historical photo exhibition on US-China cooperation during World War II at the Beijing American Center.
: 400;">: US Department of Defense spokesperson, responding to a question about the PRC’s ICBM test launch, notes “we believe that that [advanced notice from China about the launch] was a good thing. That was a step in the right direction. And it does lead, you know, to preventing any misperception or miscalculation.”
: 400;">: G7 Foreign Ministers put out release addressing various global issues, including how they “seek constructive and stable relations with China…[and] recognize the importance of China in global trade,” but also remain “seriously concerned” about maritime security in several locations across the Indo-Pacific as well as the “human rights situation in China.”
: 400;">: White House releases a fact sheet titled “Protecting America from Connected Vehicle Technology from Countries of Concern,” specifically referring to the People’s Republic of China and Russia and starting with the following statement: “Chinese automakers are seeking to dominate connected vehicle technologies in the United States and globally…”
: 400;">: Head of US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Paparo meets the commander of the PLA’s Southern Theater Command Gen. Wu Yanan during the 26th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense in Hawaii.
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury’s Under Secretary for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh and Vice Minister of Finance at China’s Ministry of Finance Liao Min co-lead fifth meeting of the Economic Working Group (EWG) in Beijing. While in Beijing, the Treasury delegation also meets Vice Premier He Lifeng to whom they pass along US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen’s positive sentiments on the efficacy of the EWG.
: 400;">: US Department of the Navy, led by the Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti, releases the Chief of Naval Operations Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy 2024 (NAVPLAN 24), most of which is centered around achieving “readiness for the possibility of war with the People’s Republic of China by 2027” because the “PLA Navy, Rocket Force, Aerospace Force, Air Force, and Cyberspace Force are coalescing into an integrated warfighting ecosystem specifically designed to defeat ours, backed by a massive industrial base…[that] is on a wartime footing.”
: 400;">: US National Security Agency, along with national and global partners, release a joint cybersecurity advisory assessing that PRC-linked cyber actors have “compromised thousands of Internet-connected devices” to create a botnet, which has been controlled and managed by Integrity Technology Group, a PRC-based company “with links to the PRC government,” since mid-2021.
: 400;">: FBI Director Wray announces that the FBI and its partners have successfully disrupted a second Chinese botnet known as Flax Typhoon, like Volt Typhoon “working at the direction of the Chinese government,” that had been targeting critical infrastructure via hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices.
: 400;">: A US Navy P-8A Poseidon transits the Taiwan Strait in international airspace “operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law.”
: 400;">: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Michael Chase meets Chinese counterpart Deputy Director of the Central Military Commission Office for International Military Cooperation Maj. Gen. Ye Jiang in Beijing for the 18th US-PRC Defense Policy Coordination Talks.
: 400;">: Biden-Harris administration announces new actions to counter the “increased abuse of the de minimis exemption,” the majority of which is conducted by several China-founded e-commerce platforms.
: 400;">: US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, after the US announced the increased use of the de minimis exemption, defends the increase, saying that “for too long, Chinese e-commerce platforms have skirted tariffs by abusing the de minimis exemption.”
: 400;">: Office of the USTR announces that final modifications concerning the statutory review of the tariff actions in the Section 301 investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation were largely adopted.
: 400;">: Head of US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Paparo holds a video teleconference with the commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command Gen. Wu Yanan, as part of efforts to resume high-level military-to-military communication.
: 400;">: US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago and China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen hold the second Vice-Ministerial meeting of the US-China Commercial Issues Working Group in Tianjin, China, with both sides agreeing to continue their regular engagement.
: 400;">: US Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and Treasury jointly release an Amendment to the July 2021 Business Advisory on Risks and Considerations for Businesses Operating in Hong Kong “to highlight new and heightened risks” for US companies operating in Hong Kong.
: 400;">: FBI Director Christopher Wray says the FBI will “continue to keep a close eye on China’s efforts to denigrate down-ballot candidates it sees as a threat, and on their broader efforts to sow discord.”
: 400;">: US Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta and China Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin co-lead the second meeting of the US-China Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s in Beijing, China, during which both sides reaffirm their intention to jointly host, with the COP29 Presidency of Azerbaijan, a Methane and Other Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases Summit at COP29.
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement on the second anniversary of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights” Assessment on the Human Rights Situation in Xinjiang, expressing disappointment that, after two years, the PRC “continues to reject the OHCHR assessment’s findings” that “serious human rights violations have been committed in Xinjiang” and urges the PRC to “end these ongoing atrocities.”
: 400;">: US National Security Advisor Sullivan meets Chinese President Xi as part of “ongoing efforts to maintain channels of communication and responsibly manage the relationship.”
: 400;">: US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan meets Gen. Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission in Beijing, China, where Sullivan emphasized the two countries” mutual “responsibility to prevent competition from veering into conflict or confrontation.”
: 400;">: US Department of State announces, along with the Department of the Treasury, the designation of nearly 400 entities and individuals, including entities in China, in new measures designed to degrade Russia’s international supply chains and wartime economy.
: 400;">: guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) conducts a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait “in accordance with international law…through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a press statement saying that the US “stands with its ally the Philippines and condemns the dangerous actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea,” stating that the “PRC ships employed reckless maneuvers, deliberately colliding with two Philippine Coast Guard ships” earlier that day.
: 400;">: Senior officials from the US Department of the Treasury and the People’s Bank of China lead the Fifth Meeting of the Financial Working Group Between the US and China in Shanghai, concluding with an exchange of letters in support of coordination in times of financial stress.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice accepts guilty plea of a US Army soldier and intelligence analyst indicted in March 2024 over conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, including technical data related to US military weapons systems, to an individual who lived in Hong Kong and is suspected of being associated with the Chinese government in exchange for money.
: 400;">: US Indo-Pacific Command, along with Australia, Canada, and the Philippines, conduct a Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity within the Philippines” Exclusive Economic Zone and release a statement that “reaffirm[s] the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award as a final and legally binding decision.”
: 400;">: US National Security Council releases a statement on the People’s Republic of China’s announcement of fentanyl scheduling actions, calling it “a valuable step forward” and the “third significant scheduling action by the PRC” since bilateral counternarcotics cooperation resumed in November 2023.
: 400;">: US Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Vipin Narang mentions that Washington was “encouraged” by China’s affirmation that a nuclear war must never be fought, but notes the PRC’s construction of hundreds of new ICBM silos in recent years, fueled by Russia, and shares that the “PRC has likely completed silo construction and has begun loading them with missiles.”
: 400;">: US and China hold a multiagency, senior official meeting as part of the US-PRC Counternarcotics Working Group in Washington, DC in which they reviewed progress and discussed further cooperation.
: 400;">: US Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin release a joint statement with Philippine counterparts that expresses serious concerns about the dangerous behavior in the South China Sea over the past year and calls on the PRC to comply with both the international law of the sea and the 2016 Philippines v. China arbitration ruling.
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targets five individuals and seven entities based in Iran, the People’s Republic of China, and Hong Kong that have facilitated procurements for Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle program.
: 400;">: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PRC Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meet in Vientiane, Laos, on the margins of the ASEAN-related ministerial meetings for “open and productive discussions” and agree to maintain open lines of communication at all levels.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice accepts the guilty plea of two Chinese citizens residing in California who acted as unregistered agents of the PRC government directed “to further the PRC’s campaign to repress and harass Falun Gong practitioners” in the United States.
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposes sanctions on a network of six individuals and five entities based in the PRC for involvement in the procurement of items supporting the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice unseals an indictment of a Chinese national and Texas resident for his role in a 2023 conspiracy to import what is believed to be one of the largest amounts of fentanyl precursors in the United States.
: 400;">: US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks says China “seeks greater influence in the region, greater access to the region and a greater say in its governance…[to] internationalize the Arctic region,” also noting that the US has “seen growing cooperation between the PRC and Russia in the Arctic” both commercially and militarily which is “concerning.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement marking the 25 years since China “began a campaign of repression against practitioners of Falun Gong” and calls upon the PRC to “cease its repressive campaign and release all who have been imprisoned for their beliefs.”
: 400;">: President Biden signs into law S.138, the “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act” that encourages the two parties to resume direct dialogue and “seek a settlement that resolves differences and leads to a negotiated agreement on Tibet.”
: 400;">: US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, speaking at the 2024 CSIS South China Sea Conference, says: “Let me be clear that the PRC’s claim to the Shoal has no more credibility today than it did when the Arbitral Tribunal issued its unanimous ruling in 2016. And the kind of revisionism and coercion we’ve seen there from the PRC is both destabilizing and dangerous.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a press statement on the eighth anniversary of the Philippines-PRC South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal ruling, reaffirming the US’ call to the PRC to abide by the ruling and to “cease its dangerous and destabilizing conduct” such as those taken over the last year against Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.
: 400;">: US Secretary of State Blinken discusses challenges posed by China, including its support for Russia’s military industrial base, in a bilateral meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
: 400;">: US Under Secretary for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh delivers remarks detailing the Biden administration’s “pursuit of a healthy economic relationship between the US and China with a level playing field for American workers and firms.”
: 400;">: President Biden extends the national emergency with respect to Hong Kong, including “recent actions taken by the People’s Republic of China to fundamentally undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy,” for one year.
: 400;">: US Department of Homeland Security releases an updated Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Strategy, identifying new high priority sectors for enforcement—aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and seafood—for the first time and redeclaring the US commitment to countering forced labor.
: 400;">: US National Security Agency, jointly with the Australian Signals Directorate and other global agencies, releases a Cybersecurity Advisory titled “PRC MSS Tradecraft in Action,” detailing the tradecraft used by the cyber actor group known as APT40 that is associated with the People’s Republic of China Ministry of State Security.
: 400;">: US Department of Homeland Security announces the first large charter flight since 2018 to remove Chinese nationals from the US to China, which was conducted in close coordination with the National Immigration Administration of the PRC, who will continue to work with the US on additional removal flights.
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions China-based members of a money laundering organization with criminal links to the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel as part of efforts with China on countering money laundering and other illicit finance issues, including those linked to the fentanyl trade.
: 400;">: US Space Force publishes an article titled “Combat-Ready—Embracing a new US Space Force Generational Model” in which China is described as one of two “ambitious” authoritarian regimes “challenging established rules and norms” with “irresponsible behavior” that threatens both US national security and a smooth functioning global economy.
: 400;">: US Deputy Secretary of State Campbell holds a call with China Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu to discuss areas of both cooperation and differences as part of “ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication.”
: 400;">: US Consul General Gregory May reminisces on the more than two centuries of connected history between the US and Hong Kong, also emphasizing the several points of commonalities and strongly shared interests that remain therein today.
: 400;">: US Department of State releases the 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom, produced under the direction of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain, who notes the report continues to highlight “ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide the Chinese Government is perpetrating.”
: 400;">: US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan holds a call with Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo Año. They shared concerns over China’s “dangerous and escalatory actions against the Philippines” lawful maritime operations” in the South China Sea.
: 400;">: American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States host consultations in Taipei, Taiwan, with representatives from the US Department of State and the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss expanding Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international fora like the UN system.
: 400;">: US Ambassador to China Burns, speaking in an interview with BBC, says China has “agreed to increase our military-to-military communications” to prevent misunderstandings, also noting that Washington has “warned the Chinese not to involve themselves in our election in any way, shape or form.”
: 400;">: US Department of the Treasury delivers its semiannual Report to Congress on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States, listing China as one of seven countries on its “Monitoring List” and reiterating Washington’s call for increased transparency from China.
: 400;">: US Secretary of the Treasury Yellen describes counternarcotics as a focus in the US-China bilateral relationship, especially as China is “the key source of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl.”
: 400;">: White House Director of National Drug Control Policy Dr. Rahul Gupta leads an interagency delegation of senior officials to Beijing to discuss counternarcotics cooperation, meeting separately with State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong, members of the shipping industry, as well as the PRC Minister of Sport to discuss zero tolerance for sports doping.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice announces a superseding indictment involving a partnership between Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and a Chinese criminal syndicate to launder drug money underground, thus perpetuating the import of narcotics into the US.
: 400;">: US Navy conducts bilateral operations with Royal Canadian Navy in the South China Sea “as a demonstration of our shared commitment to the rules-based international order.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement condemning the “unjust sentencing” of activists Huang Xueqin (Sophia Huang) and Wang Jianbing, calling the sentences “the PRC’s continued efforts to intimidate and silence civil society.”
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement on “US Support for the Philippines in the South China Sea,” condemning China’s “escalatory and irresponsible actions” keeping humanitarian supplies from Philippine service members at the BDP Sierra Madre and China’s “consistent disregard” for international law in the South China Sea.
: 400;">: US Navy conducts a Maritime Cooperative Activity with Canadian, Japanese, and Philippine counterparts in the Philippines” Exclusive Economic Zone in the South China Sea to demonstrate their “collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in the maritime domain.”
: 400;">: Group of Seven leaders release the G7 Apulia Leaders’ Communiqué, which extensively acknowledges China’s importance to, influence within, and supposed responsibilities in sectors across the globe, including but not limited to: cyberspace, international peace and security, global trade, maritime affairs, human rights, Russia’s military industrial base, and its cross-strait relations with Taiwan.
: 400;">: US Ambassador to China Burns gives a commencement speech to Hopkins-Nanjing Center, emphasizing the “hope” he still has for US-China relations in spite of how “the most important relationship between two countries in the world today” was pulled apart over the last few years, also challenging the students to make positive progress in this fundamental bilateral relationship going forward by working with one another with a common purpose.
: 400;">: US Secretary of the Treasury Yellen calls the US and Chinese economies and their interactions “crucial to global growth,” believes the US has “nothing to fear from healthy economic competition,” denies that “decoupling” would be in any way beneficial for the US economy, and expresses particular concern about China’s “enduring macroeconomic imbalances” and “unfair trade practices.”
: 400;">: Department of Homeland Security adds three China-based companies—a seafood, an aluminum, and a footwear company—to the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.
: 400;">: US Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Financial Markets Nicholas Tabor delivers public remarks summarizing the progress made by the Financial Working Group co-chaired by the US Treasury and People’s Bank of China over the last year.
: 400;">: FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran, delivering a keynote address at the 2024 Boston Conference on Cyber Security, calls China “the most prolific threat” in cybersecurity, emphasizing the “hundreds of examples” of intellectual property or personally identifiable information theft conducted by Chinese actors.
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the “Tiananmen Square massacre,” reaffirming the US commitment to promoting “accountability for PRC human rights abuses both within and outside its borders.”
: 400;">: Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell hosts PRC Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu for an official visit in Washington, DC during which they mutually reaffirmed the importance of open channels of communications at all times and discussed a variety of “regional and global issues, including areas of difference and areas of cooperation that matter most to the American people and the world.”
: 400;">: US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng provide video remarks to the US-China High-Level Event on Subnational Climate Action, hosted by the California-China Climate Institute in Berkeley, California, each encouraging bilateral collaboration and exchanges on climate.
: 400;">: US Department of State releases a statement expressing deep concern over PLA joint military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan, urging Beijing “to act with restraint” and reiterating the US commitment to its “longstanding one China policy.”
: 400;">: Office of the US Trade Representative extends certain exclusions in the Section 301 tariffs investigation, extending them through May 31, 2025.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice announces guilty plea of a Hong Kong-born, naturalized US citizen and former Central Intelligence Agency officer who admitted to, along with a co-conspirator, gathering and delivering “a large volume of classified US national defense information” to the People’s Republic of China Shanghai State Security Bureau starting in 2001.
: 400;">: US Department of State China Coordinator and Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert and PRC Director-General for Boundary and Ocean Affairs Hong Liang hold the second round of consultations on bilateral maritime affairs virtually to discuss the “current situation in the South China Sea and East China Sea, as well as other maritime issues,” and to reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
: 400;">: US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, speaking ahead of the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meetings, lists “China’s industrial overcapacity” as one of three priority areas for the US, adding that it is “not a bilateral issue between the US and China.”
: 400;">: Robert Silvers, undersecretary for strategy, policy, and plans at the Department of Homeland Security, releases a blog post discussing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in which he announces the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force’s plans to “further scale up” efforts to expand the UFLPA Entity List.
: 400;">: US naval forces conduct operations in the South China Sea in partnership with the Royal Netherlands Navy as part of efforts to maintain “stability and free use of vital sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific.”
: 400;">: Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis Grant Harris participates in the 14th annual United States-China Tourism Leadership Summit in Xi’an, China, making him the highest-ranking official ever to lead the US delegation to this summit, which Harris calls “an important vehicle” in enhancing tourism back to pre-pandemic levels.
: 400;">: Secretary Blinken releases a congratulatory message to Dr. Lai Ching-te on his inauguration as Taiwan’s fifth democratically elected president and commemorating President Tsai Ing-wen for her role in strengthening US-Taiwan ties.
: 400;">: US Department of Homeland Security adds 26 additional PRC-based textile companies to Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas noting that the US will continue to “hold the PRC accountable for their exploitation and abuse of the Uyghur people.”
: 400;">: Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner speaks via teleconference with PRC Maj. Gen. Li Bin, director of the Central Military Commission Office for International Military Cooperation, to discuss issues of mutual concern and maintain “open lines of communication in defense channels to reduce the risks of miscommunication.”
: 400;">: National Economic Advisor Brainard delivers remarks at a Center for American Progress event centered around responding to the challenges of China’s industrial overcapacity.
: 400;">: Secretary Blinken, responding to a question during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, clarifies that Washington’s concern is “not about China providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine…China’s held back from that,” but is about the “support that China’s providing to Russia to rebuild its defense industrial base”—namely, machine tools and microelectronics—in ways that are making a difference to Russia’s campaign against Ukraine.
: 400;">: President Biden initiates actions to protect US workers and business from “China’s unfair trade practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation,” leading to the increase of tariffs on $18 billion of imports from China. Directly after his announcement, he gives lengthy remarks which include comparisons of the US and Chinese markets and a conversation with President Xi Jinping on the issue.
: 400;">: Office of the US Trade Representative releases a four-year review of the actions taken in the Section 301 investigation against China’s technology transfer-related acts, policies, and practices, summarizing that these actions have been “effective,” especially in diversifying the supply chain, but, “[i]nstead of pursuing fundamental reform, the Government of China has persisted and even become more aggressive, particularly through cyber intrusions and cybertheft, in its attempts to acquire and absorb foreign technology.”
: 400;">: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Technology and National Security Tarun Chhabra and Department of State Acting Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology Seth Center lead interagency US delegation to meet a PRC delegation in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss artificial intelligence risk and safety.
: 400;">: US National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, speaking in a background press call on Biden administration efforts to protect US workers and business from China’s unfair trade practices, says “China is simply too big to play by its own rules.”
: 400;">: US President Biden issues an order arguing the real estate acquisition by MineOne Partners Limited, a company majority owned by Chinese nationals, is a national security threat as the company prepares to conduct “specialized cryptocurrency mining operations in close proximity” to Frances E. Warren Air Force Base on that real estate.
: 400;">: US Consul General Gregory May at the US Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau provides keynote address at event on the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy since 2020, during which he describes the US relationship with Hong Kong as having three components: “very good people-to-people ties…productive business and trade cooperation, and…a very challenging relationship with the Hong Kong government.”
: 400;">: US Navy destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97), as described in a comparatively extensive notice, asserts navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands and continues operations with a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea.
: 400;">: US Department of Defense releases its annual Freedom of Navigation Report for Fiscal Year 2023, in which five “Excessive Maritime Claims” are listed against the People’s Republic of China—two more claims than any other claimant listed—all five of which are associated with “multiple operational challenges” and one of which being the only claim in this list noted as challenged jointly with international partners and allies.
: 400;">: US Senior Official for the DPRK Jung Pak meets PRC Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming in Tokyo, Japan, as a follow up to Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to China in late April 2024.
: 400;">: Guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) conducts a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait “in accordance with international law.”
: 400;">: US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller, in response to questions regarding the Hong Kong authorities banning the song “Glory to Hong Kong,” says the US remains “seriously concerned about the continued erosion of protections for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, including the freedom of expression.”
: 400;">: US Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta and PRC Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin co-lead a meeting of the US-China Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s in Washington, DC
: 400;">: US Department of State releases the “International Cyberspace and Digital Policy Strategy: Towards an Innovative, Secure, and Rights-Respecting Digital Future,” in which China is called the “broadest, most active, and most persistent cyber threat” to US networks, being made up of both state-sponsored activity and PRC-linked actors who are also working to reshape norms governing cyberspace amidst surveillance and disinformation campaigns.
: 400;">: US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma travels to China, alongside a visit to the Philippines, to visit the US Embassy in Beijing, the US Consulates General in Shenyang, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and members of the US business community.
: 400;">: US Department of Justice sentences the leader of one of the largest counterfeit trademark cases ever prosecuted in the US, whose lengthy operation introduced “tens of thousands of counterfeit and low-quality devices trafficked from China into the US supply chain, jeopardizing both private-sector and public-sector users, including highly sensitive US military applications like the support platforms of US fighter jets and other military aircraft.”
: 400;">: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin co-convenes a United States-Japan-Australia Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hawaii with his counterparts during which they discuss the “concerning and destabilizing conduct” by China in the South China Sea and reject any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China Seas.
: 400;">: Secretary of Defense Austin meets with Australian, Japan and Philippine counterparts in Hawaii, during which they emphasize their commitment to support “regional security and stability” and call on China to “abide by the final and legally binding” 2016 South China Sea Arbitration.