Tough on one hand, flexible on the other

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has offered greater clarity to a relationship with China that Joe Biden's administration is probably trying to craft.

Despite talks of decoupling from China for some years, it is increasingly obvious that the administration is refining its approach.

Whether it is because the US has become tired of the protracted tension with China or due to pressure from US companies ahead of the presidential election, the US president is shaping a new relationship with China.

Diplomatic relationships are always about best interests.

Remarks made by Raimondo in Beijing and on her way to Shanghai show the new relationship is made up of two major parts.

One - advanced technology - is non-negotiable; the other - concerning trade and probable areas of cooperation - is flexible.

Raimondo said she had rejected outright Premier Li Qiang's request to reduce export controls on technology and withdraw the executive order banning US investment in Chinese technology companies.

To emphasize this, Washington issued an announcement around the same time to restrict chip exports to some Middle East countries for the first time amid concerns that these chips could be re-exported to China and Russia.

On technology, the US is firm and tough.

However, she displayed much greater flexibility than before in other areas.

Despite branding China "uninvestible," she nevertheless called on US companies doing business in China to keep doing what they have been doing, in addition to agreeing with her hosts that each other's experts should meet regularly to resolve differences on trade.

No matter how limited, the agreement should be viewed as a breakthrough in Sino-US relations. If the two countries can work to de-escalate tension, the risk of military conflicts over Taiwan will also be greatly reduced.

Compared to Raimondo's visit, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's trip to Beijing appears short of clues.

Perhaps it is because London's foreign policy towards China cannot be separate on its own from that of the US.

What the US has been doing in relation to China is also what the UK will adopt.

It is not wrong for Cleverly to say "diplomacy makes a difference" - although he declared no intention to seek changes in one visit.

Those were words spoken more for the ears of critical Tory backbenchers at home than his Chinese counterparts.

What we have heard so far from Cleverly and Chinese officials are rather standard scripts that appeared to have been drawn from the past.

His remark that "the importance of direct cooperation" to tackle climate change resembled that of Raimondo.

However, when he extended that to the "potential of AI to unlock huge potential," it became highly doubtful at a time the US is tightening export controls and banning new investment in Chinese technology.

Downing Street's China strategy is currently said to be kept "at the highest possible security level," with even some government ministers not having seen it.

Critics may be wrong to blame British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the secrecy since they may look no further than Raimondo for a better idea of this.