Yellen says the US economic relationship with China must consider human rights and national security

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington wants to build an economic relationship with Beijing that takes into account national security and human rights and is fair to both sides, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday.

In laying out the Biden administration's economic approach toward the Indo-Pacific region, the country's top financial official said Washington does not seek to decouple from China, the region's largest economy and the world's second largest next to the United States. But it wants to diversify by investing at home and boosting links with trusted countries in the region.

“We’ve put forward a vision of the world grounded in values we share with these allies and partners and in which there is also a healthy and stable economic relationship between the United States and China," Yellen said in a speech hosted by the Asia Society less than two weeks before leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries will gather in San Francisco for an annual meeting.

President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping plan to hold talks on the sidelines of the meeting to stabilize U.S.-China relations, which have unraveled over a range of issues, including trade, technology, security and human rights issues. In the South China Sea, tensions have escalated between Beijing and Manila over a contested shoal. In the Taiwan Strait, China regularly flies warplanes near the self-governed island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims to be Chinese territory.

As Washington shifts its China policy through a string of economic measures that include tariffs and restrictions on technology exports and outbound investments, the Chinese government responds by accusing the United States of stifling its growth and curbing its rise. In her speech, Yellen said Washington will not cut its economic ties with Beijing but pursue a “serious...