Is Xi Jinping offering olive branch to US through Starbucks?

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has sprung a surprise by dashing off a letter to former Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz asking him to help boost trade and investment ties between the US and China. The letter, which was quoted extensively by the official <em>Xinhua</em> news agency on Thursday, comes at a time when China’s relations with the US have hit rock-bottom. So naturally the billion dollar question is whether it constitutes the proverbial olive branch. Xi’s letter is reported to be in response to an earlier message from Schultz. He has urged the multi-billionaire to "continue to play an active role in promoting China-US economic and trade cooperation", the <em>Xinhua</em> report said. The letter states that Beijing will "provide a broader space for companies from all over the world, including Starbucks and other American companies, to develop in China.” Although it is too early to say whether the hitherto belligerent Xi, has struck a conciliatory note, analysts are of the view that this could be an attempt to reach out to the US to mend fences as Joe Biden is taking over as President in a week’s time and the Trump era draws to a close. Earlier China’s foreign minister Wang Yi had called for the need to "restart the dialogue" and "rebuild mutual trust" with new US administration after Joe Biden takes over as President. Schultz, who stepped down as chairman of the Starbucks chain in 2018 but still holds the honorary title of company chairman, “had previously congratulated Xi on China's transition into a moderately prosperous society", Xinhua said. Starbucks, has now become a popular brand in China with over 4,700 coffee shops across the country since it started in 1999 and in a sense reflects the changing lifestyle of a more prosperous China. Beijing today stands isolated in the world order due its military muscle flexing and dubious record of concealing facts about the deadly coronavirus pandemic which originated in Wuhan. Outgoing US President Donald Trump has kicked off a campaign to decouple the US economy from China which will cripple the dragon. He has also urged the European countries to do likewise which would further drag down the monster economy that China has built. China’s rapid growth in the past has been fuelled by investments and technology from the US and Europe and the lucrative markets that they provided for Chinese products. However, with both the US and Europe as well as big emerging markets like India decoupling themselves from China the growth rate is bound to come down in the future. Chinese tech giants such as Huawei have suffered a huge setback as it was dependent on the western companies for crucial chip components for its smartphones. It has also been barred from crucial telecom infrastructure orders both in the US and Europe which has suddenly shrunk the size of its market. Besides, several big US corporates such as Apple have already started moving their supply chains outside China which will hit the local economy..</p>