Text | Li Jia
Edit | Yan Bao
On July 25 and 26, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited China. Before her visit, she had already circled around China. In May, he visited India in South Asia and Cambodia and Thailand in Southeast Asia. The only countries to be visited on this Trip to Asia were Japan, South Korea and Mongolia.
The Biden administration's move toward China has always been contradictory. On the one hand, it has constantly submitted to China plans for meeting high-level personalities of the two countries, expressing the hope of establishing a risk-off mechanism to prevent unexpected incidents from escalating into conflicts; on the other hand, it has pulled NATO and the European Union to issue anti-China statements, and has also continuously made various "small moves" on Hong Kong-related, Taiwan-related, and Xinjiang-related issues.
Sherman's trip to Asia was the longest in Japan, but Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is currently fully engaged in the Affairs of the Tokyo Olympics and cannot get out, so he did not meet with Sherman. After that, the eighth meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of the United States, Japan, and south Korea was held, saying that it was to strengthen the strategic partnership, but the real purpose was known to everyone.
Wendy Sherman, 72, one of the elders of the Democratic Party today, is not the first time she has served as deputy secretary of state in the UNITED States government, and before the Biden administration, she first held key positions in the U.S. State Department under the Clinton administration and the Obama administration.
In April, Sherman was inaugurated as the 21st Deputy Secretary of State of the U.S. Department of State. As the "second in command" of the US State Department, Sherman has long created a "shrewd and tough" diplomatic style, which foreign media said is expected to actually dominate the future US policy toward North Korea.
Born into a Jewish family in Maryland, Wendy Sherman's father was a Marine and was very passionate about the civil rights movement and politics. She grew up with average grades, not a standard bully, and did not have a prominent academic qualification like many high-ranking American officials, but she had an unusual interest in politics from an early age.
She first studied at Smith College, majoring in sociology and urban studies. After graduation, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland.
After graduating from graduate school, Sherman initially worked in social work such as helping the poor, working for several non-governmental organizations and government agencies to help abused women and the poor. Noting the difficulties of working in teams, she has been working tirelessly to prove the power of women's roles in society.
Sherman began her political career as Maryland's director of child welfare, and she also served as chief of staff and campaign manager for Congressman Barbara McCowski. In 1993, Sherman joined the Clinton administration as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and later served as Special Adviser to Clinton and Policy Coordinator for North Korea.
She participated in the formulation and consultation of the 1994 DPRK Framework Agreement between the United States and the DPRK, and in 2000, she accompanied Secretary of State Albright to visit north Korea and meet with Kim Jong-il. Albrett once described Sherman as "one of America's brightest and most dedicated diplomats." After ending his tenure in the Clinton administration, Sherman served in the private sector and in think tanks.
In 2011, Sherman volunteered to call then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief of staff, stating his intention to serve as Under secretary of state for state, "I want her to know that I intend to succeed Bill as Secretary of State for Political Affairs." She revealed it in her memoir, "The Coward's Mistake: Lessons from Courage, Power, and Persistence."
Initially, Hillary and her chief of staff, Cheryl, did not accede to Sherman's request, and her tough work style was considered aggressive, but Burns, who had worked with Sherman, suggested that Hillary appoint Sherman because she was a good team player, and Hillary chose to trust Burns. Finally, by Obama's appointment, Sherman became Hillary Clinton's undersecretary of state and the first female undersecretary of state in the United States.
Kerry and Sherman
During his tenure, Sherman was known as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's "diplomatic adviser" and worked very closely together, and later in Hillary Clinton's campaign, Sherman was considered a strong candidate for secretary of state.
As Undersecretary, Sherman was also a diligent worker, visiting 54 countries to resolve the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and participating in negotiations on Syria's chemical weapons. The highlight of her career, of course, was a pivotal role in the negotiations on the JCPOA for Iran.
Former U.S. Secretaries of State Kerry and Sherman and others reviewed the JCPOA at the last minute
Sherman was the chief U.S. representative in the Iran nuclear negotiations and the country's only female official to attend. She has established good personal relationships with Iranian officials. They often chatted at the dinner table, and even talked about the stories of their grandchildren. She also revealed the story of the period in her memoirs.
The Iran nuclear deal lasted six rounds, each time on the verge of reaching an agreement, with new points of disagreement emerging, "my eyes filled with tears, and I pointed out to them how their tactics undermined the whole deal." Iran's chief negotiator, Araghizzi, and Iranian officials were stunned, "For the first time in a month, they didn't say a word." After a long silence, Araghizzi withdrew his previous objections.
After the JCPOA was reached, Sherman received the U.S. National Security Medal from Obama for her contributions to the negotiations and other diplomatic achievements.
After Trump took over as president, Sherman taught at Harvard's Kennedy School, where she is professor of public leadership practices and director of the Center for Public Leadership, and a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfort Center for Science and International Affairs. She is also a Senior Consultant at Albright Stonebridge Consulting Group.
Sherman has held key positions at the U.S. State Department four times in her career, but she now faces a U.S. diplomatic team that has suffered "severe personnel and morale." She must reverse the bad impression of U.S. diplomats "on their toes" during the Pompeo era, while at the same time pushing for Biden's version of "America First."
From the perspective of the U.S. government, Sherman was a trusted and capable senior diplomat in Washington, so he was entrusted with the task of sending to Asia. Sherman's deep understanding of the art of complex diplomacy, her outspokenness and her keen observation of personal diplomacy, could both play a role in her new role.
Speaking of the Biden administration's relationship with China, Sherman has argued that the relationship between China and the United States is not "based on trust" and that the relationship between China and the United States should be based on "respect for each other's interests." As Sherman himself put it, "2021 is not 2015".
However, Sherman's visit to China did not adjust the current attitude of the White House, so it is still in the name of promoting the interests and values of the United States. The United States vainly tries to "start from the position of strength" to dialogue with the Chinese side, and China will not eat this set in Anchorage, let alone this set in Tianjin. Gone are the days when the United States wanted to cooperate and harm China's interests at the same time.
The key to the direction of the development of Sino-US relations lies in how the United States behaves. During several talks during Sherman's visit to China, the Chinese side has clearly put specific concerns on the table and put forward two lists to the US side, one is a list of erroneous words and deeds that the US side must stop, and the other is a list of key cases of concern to the Chinese side.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi also clearly put forward to the US side three bottom lines that should be observed: First, the United States must not challenge, slander, or even try to subvert the path and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics; second, the United States must not try to obstruct or even interrupt China's development process; third, the United States must not infringe on China's national sovereignty, let alone undermine China's territorial integrity.
If the United States wants to promote the development of bilateral relations, it needs the United States to abandon the outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game, change course, and create good conditions and environment for the turnaround of Sino-US relations. As for whether Sherman's visit to China can open a new chapter in the US government's China policy, it is still necessary to observe the practical measures of the US side in the follow-up, after all, it is not diplomats who formulate national policies.