Chuck Schumer To Lead Senate's First Trip to China in 4 Years

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and five other U.S. senators are set to travel to China next week in the first such visit in four years, his office said on Tuesday.

The bipartisan delegation, co-led by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), will mark Congress' first direct engagement with China's leaders in Beijing after the last trip there by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) in 2019.

The Senate delegation comes after a recent string of trips to Beijing by senior U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Chinese government is yet to reciprocate, but there are whispers that China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, may visit the United States in the coming weeks.

China's Foreign Ministry welcomed the news. "We hope this visit will contribute to a more objective understanding of China in the U.S. Congress, increase dialogue and communication between the legislatures of our two countries, and add positive factors to the growth of China-U.S. relations," it said on Wednesday.

Crapo's office said the U.S. lawmakers hope to meet President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital. The group's swing through Asia will also take them to U.S. treaty allies Japan and South Korea, an itinerary followed by other congressional delegations to the region in the recent past.

Beijing's decision to host the Senate delegation has extra significance at a time when the United States is actively courting Chinese officials to stabilize the rocky bilateral relationship. The White House is encouraging Xi's participation at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.

China itself would have to balance the sentiments of its nationalistic public with the need to maintain open dialogue with the United States at a time of intense competition in nearly every arena. Washington faces a similar challenge.

"Managing these visits will be tricky. Chinese officials will have to engage constructively with guests who have to play to a domestic audience which demands they be 'tough on China,' especially as the 2024 presidential election countdown begins," Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization think tank, wrote in an op-ed in April.

Wang Yi's likely travel to the United States would further lay the groundwork for Xi's visit to the APEC conference in November, according to Foreign Policy. He would also be the most senior official to set foot in America since President Joe Biden took office.

The Chinese foreign minister could be followed by He Lifeng, China's vice premier in charge of economic affairs, in a series of trips that would roughly mirror those of Blinken, Yellen and Raimondo earlier in the year.

He, who was recently in Germany for a high-level dialogue, has been described as the "lead person" on China's economic policy—the expectations of his U.S. visit would be high.