US commerce chief plans to visit China despite hacking
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) July 25, 2023

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Tuesday she plans to visit China "later this summer," despite earlier reports that her email account was among those breached by China-based hackers.

This month computer giant Microsoft said hackers seeking intelligence information had breached the email accounts of some US government agencies, while The Washington Post cited US officials saying that State Department email accounts and that of Raimondo were hacked.

But the Commerce Department chief told an event at the Wilson Center on Tuesday, when asked about the US-China relationship: "I do plan to travel later this summer, we're still finalizing date and plans."

Raimondo added: "At a high level, we need to do business with China wherever we can, we need to promote wherever we can, but we need to protect where we must, and I have a role to play in both of those."

The event was briefly disrupted by climate protestors, who chanted "We need clean air, not another billionaire" when Raimondo was speaking about the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

She left the stage but later continued her remarks once the protesters were gone.

On China, Raimondo noted that "there is no national security risk" to the United States selling consumer products there. She pointed to huge benefits to doing business where possible -- even as Washington must be "eyes-wide-open about the threats and strategic competition."

Trade has increasingly been a point of friction between the world's two biggest economies, with President Joe Biden's administration restricting sales of advanced microchips to Beijing, a step followed by key US allies.

But although US-China tensions have flared in recent years over a host of issues ranging from trade to human rights, recent weeks have seen a series of high-profile visits by US officials aimed at stabilizing ties.

Ahead of Raimondo's potential trip, other officials who have travelled to the country include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry.

Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger also made a trip to Beijing that overlapped with Kerry's visit.

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