A Congressional Delegation Underscores the Imperative of U.S.-China Dialogue

On Thursday, 25 September, a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives – comprising Democrats Adam Smith, Chrissy Houlahan and Ro Khanna and Republican Michael Baumgartner – concluded a five-day trip to China. It was the first such visit since 2019. The members met with Premier Li Qiang, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Defense Minister Dong Jun and other high-ranking Chinese officials. They expressed hope that their initiative would “lead to more opportunities for members of Congress to engage in meaningful conversations with senior Chinese government officials”. Wang, in turn, stated that the four had completed an “ice-breaking journey” that “opened another window for engagement between the two countries”.

Smith, who led the delegation, has emerged as one of the most nuanced congressional voices on China policy, stressing that Washington should view Beijing not as an existential adversary to be defeated, but as an enduring competitor to be managed. He argued in a webinar this March that “China is going to exist. We’re going to exist… So we need to build a frame for this world, not a frame for the 1950s, not a frame for the 1990s”. Khanna echoed this judgment last week, noting that he and Wang had discussed “the importance of peaceful coexistence”.

U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue (previously a Republican senator from Georgia) praised the delegation members for reinvigorating bilateral dialogue, noting that they would “take some political hits, potentially, back home”. Indeed, China policy has too often been an arena in which U.S. lawmakers try to “out-hawk” one another. For example, Republican Mike Gallagher, who chaired a House committee on strategic competition with China before resigning from Congress in April 2024, accused former U.S. President Joe Biden and his aides of practicing “zombie engagement” with Chinese officials – talking for the sake of talking while downplaying Beijing’s security and economic threats to the U.S. In August 2022, Democrat Nancy Pelosi – then the House speaker – travelled to Taiwan; the act was ostensibly intended to display toughness on China and draw attention to its human rights record but wound up giving Beijing a pretext to increase cross-strait pressure in ways that continue to undermine Taipei’s security.

U.S. President Donald Trump jolted U.S.-China relations by imposing high tariffs and has given little clarity about his Asia policy’s overall direction, but he wants – and needs – Washington and Beijing to get past the trade war that he started, which is harming both. Following a 19 September phone call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, he said that he and Xi would meet along the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea next month and that he would visit China in early 2026.

These tête-à-têtes create political space for Trump’s co-partisans to partake in diplomatic exchanges like the House delegation just completed. U.S. observers should welcome this outcome regardless of party. Given the risks that arise as the world’s two leading powers vie for influence in Asia, the case for more frequent and substantive exchanges – especially between their militaries – should be self-evident.