Biden ‘ needs courage’ to pull China- US ties from chilliness
▶ If new admin inherits hostile policies, ‘ it would be a tragedy for US’
As Joe Biden was inaugurated as the new US president in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, the world would greet a new US government with entirely different values and policies than the administration of former president Donald Trump.
To what extent the new US government will fix or adjust the China- US relations, which reached a low point during the Trump era, remains in question, and Chinese experts urged Biden and his top officials to be responsible and brave to correct the wrong and dangerous policies set by the previous government.
In his remarks in his farewell address, released on a pre- recorded video on Tuesday, the last full day of his presidency, Trump hailed his hostile policies toward China as an achievement. He continued to play the blame
game and used a racial term to cover his failed handling of the COVID- 19 epidemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans. He wants to transmit his hostile China policies to next administration on the day of power transition.
“We imposed historic and monumental tariffs on China; made a great new deal with China. But before the ink was even dry, we and the whole world got hit with the China virus,” Trump said, full of hostility toward China. “We revitalized our alliances and rallied the nations of the world to stand up to China like never before.”
Chinese analysts said this shows that Trump and conservative antiChina forces in the US want the new administration to inherit and continue the tough strategy toward China. It is likely, they said, that although the two parties in the US have many differences, they share common ground when it comes to being tough on China.
According to US media reports, key members in Biden’s team who were nominated to lead crucial departments, including secretary of state pick Antony Blinken, defense secretary pick Lloyd Austin, and Janet Yellen, nominee for treasury secretary, all said during their confirmation hearings at the Congress that China is the top strategic competitor to the US, and the new administration would continue some of Trump’s hard- line policies toward China.
Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday that this kind of attitude will not surprise Chinese leaders and experts on ChinaUS ties at all.
“We have never had any wishful thinking to expect the Biden administration to fundamentally change the US policies toward China,” Jin said.
Lü Xiang, an expert of US studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said that Blinken and other nominees were speaking to Congress, so they needed to please the different political forces to maximize support for their nominations.
“So the remarks they made are not entirely equal to the policies they would make after they take the office. They will and must make adjustments to Trump’s policies, even if they have to agree that being tough on China is correct, because the atmosphere toward China at the moment is poisoned,” Lü said.
Since 2018, the Trump administration has activated a “whole- of- government approach” to deal with China, and it has tried everything short of actual war to confront China, including a trade war, ideological struggles, sanctions against high- tech firms and support of separatists and secessionists to harm China’s sovereignty.
But the result of all these efforts have not had as much impact as desired, as the approach did not stop China’s development nor did it impact China’s export sector a great deal, Jin said.
As China turns out to be the only major economy to have posted positive economic growth in 2020, many US companies and consumers have paid a heavy price due to the unwise decisions made by the Trump administration, Jin said.
Competition by rules
Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, said the US competition with China, led by Trump’s team, had no rules and bottom line. Trump is a leader who does not care about US national interests and the benefits of Wall Street and American companies, and he only pays lip service to international norms. He can even accept “loselose” consequences with not just China, but also other US partners.
“Biden’s team offered some tough words during the hearings, but they will be very pragmatic in reality, as they are experienced and know the boundaries and rules of the game with China,” Li said.
Li noted that the new US government’s strategy toward China is more manageable.
Their most pressing challenges are domestic, including economic recovery and fighting COVID- 19, but not China. “If the US continues to expend its political capital and economic resources on major power competitions, it will walk along the same path as the former Soviet Union [ which disintegrated],” Lü said.
Icebreaking?
China has the sincerity to restart dialogue and cooperation with the US now that Biden has taken office. Chinese analysts said the most possible fields for icebreaking would be climate change, fighting COVID- 19, and trade.
Jin said that after Biden was confirmed president- elect in December 2020, some Chinese governmental departments already “started to engage with Biden’s team and propose plans for dialogue. This has proved China’s sincerity. As long as there is even 1 percent possibility to improve bilateral ties, China will make 100 percent efforts to push it forward.”
Douglas H. Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Global Times “I would not look for breakthroughs or announcements beyond what have already been signaled” during the first 100 days of Biden’s presidency, but that the channels of communication will be normalized.
This would help both sides to get back to the business of “working on the practical problems,” and find ways to reduce the potential for conflict, Paal said.