The rivalry between the US and China is likely to continue for some time after the two countries put demands on each other that are “unreachable,” a political analyst told CNBC on Tuesday.
Comments came from Scott Kennedy of the Washington DC-based Think Tank Center for Strategic and International Studies after officials from the two countries concluded high-level meetings in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Monday.
At the meeting, Chinese officials presented US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman with two sets of demands and three bottom lines.
The Chinese requests include asking the US to “correct its mistakes”, for example by withdrawing its extradition request from Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, not hindering China’s development and not violating Chinese sovereignty.
I think it’s going to be really tough so we can see this relationship solidify like hard concrete into a rivalry that may well be with us for some time to come.
Scott Kennedy
Center for Strategic and International Studies
China is essentially asking the US not to pay attention to what is going on in China and “just let China do what it wants,” said Kennedy, senior advisor and trustee for Chinese business and economics at CSIS.
“You can’t just ask the US and the rest of the international community not to have an opinion on these things and ask China to honor its commitments,” Kennedy told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia.
“I think it’s going to be really tough so we can see this relationship solidify like hard concrete into a rivalry that may well be with us for some time to come,” he added.
During the Tianjin meetings, Sherman raised concerns about Chinese actions “run counter to our values and interests and those of our allies and partners and undermine the international rules-based order,” the State Department said.
These issues include alleged human rights violations by China in regions such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong, as well as Beijing’s aggressive behavior in the controversial South China Sea.
China regards matters in Xinjiang and Hong Kong as “internal affairs” and claims activities in the South China Sea as its sovereign right. Beijing claims almost all of the disputed water as its territory, despite a groundbreaking international arbitration ruling in The Hague in 2016 dismissing those claims.
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Tensions between the US and China have escalated in recent years.
Former US President Donald Trump tried to counter long-standing criticism of China with tariffs and sanctions – such as unequal market access, lack of protection of intellectual property and the compulsion of companies to transfer technology in order to operate in the country.
I think these two leaders have this relationship and they want to talk and explain each other and see if there could possibly be a way forward.
Scott Kennedy
Center for Strategic and International Studies
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“Even if the relationship hasn’t improved an iota, I think these two leaders have this relationship and they want to talk and explain each other and see if there might be a way forward,” said the analyst.
“They both see themselves as global diplomats and so I expect a meeting one way or another when the G-20 meets.”
– CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
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