A reporter of The New York Times on Thursday commented that the Biden administration so far has failed to reform and revisit the chaotic and incoherent China policy it inherited from the Trump administration, and the new administration should take immediate measures to reverse the downward spiral in the world's two largest economies.

Ian Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, who lived in China for 20 years, said that though the incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to characterize its China policy as more "nuanced" than that of Donald Trump, the administration's actions so far "have largely followed the Trump playbook".

He said that the tough talks on China may play well domestically but will only contribute to the dangerous decay in China-U.S. relations, adding what really needed now is "engaging, with realistic expectations" and reversing some of the Trump administration's "burn-the-bridges measures."

Earlier this week, Washington imposed sanctions on 24 Chinese officials just one day before Chinese diplomats set off to attend the China-U.S. High-Level Strategic Dialogue in Alaska. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi denounced that imposing new sanctions just before bilateral talks "is not the way to welcome guests."

Johnson believed that sanctioning Chinese officials, who "almost certainly do not have foreign assets", might protect the Biden administration from charges that "it is soft on China", but it will do nothing to change China's behavior.

To reverse the downward spiral in the two countries' relations, he suggested that some "low-rent measures" are immediately needed:

Firstly, the new government should restart the Peace Corps and Fulbright scholarship programs in China because they have been and will continue to be key ways for Americans to learn about China.

Secondly, the U.S. should stop vilifying China's Confucius Institutes as sinister propaganda machines. He said such institutes are largely cultural centers, just like educational outposts from other countries trying to push a good image of themselves.

Thirdly, the Biden administration should allow the scores of Chinese journalists expelled by the Trump administration last year back into the United States, adding Trump administration's measures have gutted America's ability to understand China.

Fourthly, the new government should lift visa restrictions on members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) because there are some 90 million CPC members, and most of them are civil servants doing normal jobs, not "some evil cult that needs to be kept at bay."

Finally, the U.S. should invite China to reopen its consulate in Houston, which the Trump team closed last year in retaliation for alleged espionage.

Johnson said all these measures require something in exchange and would serve as a test of Beijing's willingness to improve relations.

"These are small measures, but they could be meaningful confidence-building steps and pave the way for more constructive exchanges later on thornier problems," Johnson commented.