US Senators Eye Xi Jinping Meet on China, S Korea, Japan Trip

A US senate delegation is due to visit China, Japan and South Korea next week with plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office confirmed the trip by a bi-partisan group, which will be co-led by Republican Mike Crapo, on Tuesday.

Schumer has repeatedly urged the United States to take a harder line on China, and urged lawmakers earlier this year to begin new legislation aimed at addressing concerns about the world’s second-biggest economy.

The trip will follow visits by a series of Biden administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August.

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Schumer’s office said the trip’s goal is to advance US economic and national security interests in the region and will feature meetings with government leaders and business leaders from each country and from US companies operating in each country.

Schumer “will focus on the need for reciprocity in China for US businesses that will level the playing field for American workers, as well as on maintaining US leadership in advanced technologies for national security,” his office said.

Other senators on the trip include Republicans Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and Democrats Maggie Hassan and Jon Ossoff. The Chinese Embassy declined to comment Monday on the planned trip.

Raimondo said in August that US companies had complained to her that China has become “uninvestable,” pointing to fines, raids and other actions that made it risky to do business in the country.

“For US business in many cases, patience is running thin, and it’s time for action,” she said, adding that companies face “exorbitant fines without any explanation, revisions to the counterespionage law, which are unclear and… raids on businesses – a whole new level of challenge and we need that to be addressed.”

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.