Washington Update

On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Zurich in their first face-to-face meeting since Yellen took office. Both readouts and separate remarks struck a markedly positive tone, emphasizing deeper communication, responsibly managing the relationship, and working together on shared challenges like climate change.

On Tuesday, the House formally established the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party in one of the first votes of the new Congress. The majority of Democrats joined the entire Republican House caucus in voting for the measure. During floor debate for the resolution, newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) promised the committee would take an approach that focuses on shared bipartisan challenges related to China.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke over the phone with newly appointed Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the end of his ambassadorship to the United States. According to the embassy readout, the conversation recalled “in-depth and constructive” meetings between the two during Qin’s tenure, noting that Qin hopes to continue working closely with Blinken in his new role.

In a significant breakthrough, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced on Thursday that it was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate audit firms in China for the first time in history. PCAOB Chair Erica Williams credited the access to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA), which Congress passed in 2020.

On Thursday, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced his selection of Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) as the chair of the planned Select Committee on China next Congress. Gallagher currently serves as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee.

In a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo argued that US allies and companies should support the administration’s efforts to restrict China’s access to advanced US technologies over national security concerns. Raimondo urged industry to “step up and work with [the US government] to move out on this strategy.”