American business tycoons including Bill Gates, Tim Cook, and Elon Musk have lined up to visit China this year for whom China rolled out the red carpets. However, political dialogue between the two sides got off to a slow start with the postponement of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit over the so-called "spy balloon" incident. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin didn't even get an appointment with his Chinese counterpart during his trip to Asia. The awkwardness was only slightly lifted when Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen made it here in the Chinese capital in early July. Some media have dubbed the current picture as "Hot economics and cold politics". Is that an accurate description? Can we compartmentalize the two tracks, for long?