A few days ago, the top brass of the United States and China met in Alaska for the first Time since Biden took office, and the two sides exchanged heated words in the open, with Yang Jiechi, the top Chinese diplomat in charge of foreign affairs, even speaking out against the U.S. side. However, on the first day of the talks, the Chinese Communist Party again engaged in economic unification, with Wall Street giant JPMorgan being brought in as a strategic investor by the Chinese Communist Party’s China Merchants Bank. On the same day, the CCP also revised the rules governing the insurance industry to continue to attract foreign investment.
According to the analysis, although Yang Jiechi issued a “War Wolf” speech, at the same time, the Chinese Communist Party unified the U.S. Wall Street with economic interests, indicating that the Chinese Communist Party still cares about the U.S.-China relationship and wants to draw in some Americans.
Chinese Communist Party and U.S. Talks have a message in the open encounter
On March 18-19, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Yang Jiechi, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Anchorage, Alaska.
The two sides used unusually sharp rhetoric when they were photographed by the media before the substantive talks began, and the opening remarks, which should have been over in 10 minutes, were extended to more than an hour.
Once again, Yang Jiechi showed the outside world the “war wolf” style of the Chinese Communist Party. The opening remarks were supposed to last 2 minutes each, but Yang Jiechi spoke for 17 minutes, and at one point, he even said something like, “Have we suffered less from the foreigners?
The U.S. and China demonstrated their tensions in various areas. For example, on compliance with international rules, Blinken said the issues the U.S. side will address in the meeting concern not only the U.S. and China, but also other countries in the region and the world. He said failure to comply with a rules-based international order could lead to a more violent world.
The alternative to a “rules-based order,” Blinken said, is a world where might makes right and where the winner takes all. That, he said, “would be a more violent and unstable world for all of us.
The Chinese Communist Party disagreed and directly refuted this.
Yang Jiechi said, “I believe that the vast majority of countries in the world that do not recognize what the United States says are universal values, do not recognize that what the United States says is international public opinion, and do not recognize that rules made by a few are the so-called ‘rules-based’ international order.”
In his speech down the road, Yang Jiechi was soft-spoken in some areas, such as the economy.
During the talks, Yang said that in the economic contacts between the two countries, some conflicts may arise and these conflicts should be dealt with rationally; that trade between China and the U.S. has made great achievements and should be taken to another level, and that the vast majority of U.S. companies in China believe that the business environment in China is good and no one forces them to stay in China, “they are willing to be in China because they They want to be in China because they can benefit and have their broad development in China”.
According to current affairs commentator Li Linyi, Yang Jiechi’s statement that trade between China and the U.S. has made great achievements and “should be taken to another level” is in fact a statement with words, indicating that the Chinese Communist Party is again ready to cede some economic benefits and engage in economic unification war against the Americans, as it did before. The most typical is to engage in financial opening to Wall Street.
On March 11, Li Keqiang said at a press conference that he would “guide financial enterprises to make reasonable profits”. This statement was also made during the US-China talks in June last year.
On June 17, 2020, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Yang Jiechi in Hawaii. The Wall Street Journal described the talks as “saber-rattling”. On the same day, Li Keqiang held an executive meeting of the State Council to “guide financial institutions to make further reasonable concessions to enterprises”.
On June 19, 2020, two days after Li Keqiang’s “concessions” last year, JPMorgan Chase was approved to take full control of a futures company; in August, another Wall Street giant, BlackRock, became the first foreign company to receive preliminary approval to open a wholly-owned public fund business in China; and on September 2, Citigroup was approved for securities investment fund custody business in China. On September 2, Citigroup was approved for securities investment fund custody business in China.
U.S.-China Negotiations Also Introduce Wall Street Firms as Strategic Investors in Chinese Communist Banks
On the same day as the U.S.-China negotiations, news related to U.S. Wall Street firms emerged in the mainland financial sector.
In the evening of March 19, China Merchants Bank announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, China Merchants Bank Wealth Management, intends to introduce JPMorgan Asset Management (Asia Pacific) Limited (“JPMorgan Asset Management”) as its external strategic investor.
According to the announcement, the strategic investor will contribute approximately RMB2.667 billion, of which approximately RMB556 million will be included in the registered capital of CMBC. After the completion of the capital increase, China Merchants Bank will hold 90% of the shares and the strategic investor will hold 10%.
It is reported that the strategic investor introduced this time is the investment arm and main operating entity of JPMorgan Group’s asset management segment in Asia, in which JPMorgan Group indirectly holds 100% equity.
On the same day, the CBRC issued the “Implementing Rules on Amending the Regulations on Foreign Insurance Companies” to further clarify the admission criteria for foreign insurance group companies and foreign financial institutions to invest in foreign insurance companies.
Prior to the amendment, the foreign shareholders of foreign insurance companies were limited to foreign insurance companies. After the amendment, the number of foreign shareholders who can invest in the company is increased to three categories, namely foreign insurance companies, foreign insurance group companies and other foreign financial institutions. At the same time, it is further stipulated that the sole or major foreign shareholder of a foreign insurance company shall be a foreign insurance company or a foreign insurance group company.
In addition, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued a document to remove the restriction on the ratio of foreign investment in joint venture Life insurance companies, and this amendment removes the restrictive provisions on foreign shareholding in the implementation rules.
Analysis: The CPC cares a lot about U.S.-China relations
According to Li Linyi, although the Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi gave a “war wolf” speech at the U.S.-China talks, and the Chinese Communist Party unified Wall Street with economic interests, it shows that the Chinese Communist Party still cares a lot about the U.S.-China relations and wants to draw in some Americans. However, these officials also need to act out Xi Jinping‘s “level-headed” posture, and they also need to perform to preserve the CCP’s rule at Home. The economic card is becoming increasingly difficult to play at home, and the CCP has only been able to keep its regime intact by stirring up nationalism.
In response to the display of tough rhetoric by CCP diplomats, State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said at a press briefing on March 19: “We know that sometimes these diplomatic speeches [from the Chinese side] can be exaggerated and may even be for a domestic audience.”
The New York Times report quoted a U.S. official as saying that the discussion (between the U.S. and China) calmed down after the reporters left the room and a substantive conversation took place that lasted much longer than originally planned.
Shortly after the meeting on the 18th, a picture titled “A Comparison of the Two Xin Chou Years” quickly made its way onto Weibo, thanks to the Chinese Communist Party’s official media. The image combines historical photos of the signing of the 1901 Xin Chou Treaty and photos of this week’s Sino-US high-level dialogue, both of which were held in the year of Xin Chou.
The image was posted on the Weibo account of the People’s Daily, the official media of the Communist Party of China, and quoted Yang Jiechi’s statement that “the United States is not qualified,” prompting a flood of comments.
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