US must keep engaging with China, says ex-World Bank chief

With a resolution to the US-China confrontation nowhere in sight, the US must continue to engage with China on critical issues such as the international economy and climate change, said former World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick.

“On the one hand, we need security deterrence so as to prevent any aggression. On the other hand, we need to continue to work with China on issues, whether they be climate change, pandemics, the international economy. And finding that balance, I think, is the challenge of our era,” Zoellick said in an interview with Nikkei Asia in Tokyo. Zoellick served in the administration of George W. Bush as US trade representative and as deputy secretary of state before becoming president of the World Bank in 2007. He is seen as a proponent of the decades-long US policy of engagement with China, which, it was hoped, would see China democratize as it integrated into the global economy. That policy has been questioned as China has grown to become the world’s second-largest economy, challenging the US position as the world’s top economic and military superpower. Both Democrats and Republicans in the US have leaned toward a hard line against China in recent years.

The picture is complicated, however, according to Zoellick, “[I]n reality, if you look at the Chinese cooperation in areas like nonproliferation policy, economics, some environmental issues, engagement didn’t fail. The challenge is there’s always more work to do.” The Biden administration has come to recognize the need to face China, Zoellick said. “You can’t ignore China. You can’t contain it. You can’t make it go away.” At the same time, he does not expect the administration to be conciliatory because “Biden doesn’t want to be perceived as soft on China,” as he is expected to run for reelection this year. Zoellick reflected on a speech he gave in 2005 in which he urged China to become a “responsible stakeholder” in the international system. By that time, China was an important player in multilateral bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations Security Council. “The point of my speech was to say that we needed to go beyond integration. I mean, China assuming the responsibilities of the international system.”

He said that until Xi took office, there were some important efforts by China on issues such as the global financial crisis and sanctions against Iran and North Korea. “But I think that when Xi Jinping took office, you started to see a move away from some of those policies,” he said. Zoellick, who became acquainted with Xi when he was vice president, added that he always had more of a focus on the Communist Party and strengthening the party rather than China’s economy in his early days.