Raimondo: US isn’t seeking to sever economic ties with China

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States isn’t seeking to sever economic ties with China — even as it takes steps to protect America’s technological and military prowess from Beijing. That’s according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. She spoke to reporters in advance of a speech Wednesday on the Biden administration’s China policy. Relations between the world’s two biggest economies have chilled over the last decade, partly because the communist government in Beijing has cracked down on dissent in Hong Kong and on Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. The Biden administration has kept President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China and has stepped up a campaign to keep the Chinese from acquiring sensitive technology that could speed its military buildup.