Biden needs ‘cautious approach’ to China
▶ US pledges to Ukraine, climate change ‘in question’ if GOP takes House
While the US Democrats will keep their narrow Senate majority for the next two years, the control of the House is still not assured for either party as counting continues in some states as of press time.
Chinese analysts said the situation is not surprising and will not bring big changes to the China-US tension, but considering the Republicans could take more provocative actions against China if they take the House, albeit with a slim majority, the White House will need to handle China ties with more finesse so the US can prevent a loss of control in bilateral ties.
If Republicans do retake the House, the Biden administration will face obstacles and challenges in domestic and external affairs, experts said.
For instance, Republicans might slow down or pare back assistance for Ukraine and make it hard for the US to fulfill its commitments on climate change, which will weaken the US’ image and authority among its allies, said experts.
The top leaders of the world’s two biggest economies are scheduled to meet in Bali, Indonesia on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, which is a positive signal to the world, especially to the fragile global economic recovery, and with the Democrats securing control over the Senate, some US media and observers consider that US President Joe Biden will be more confident at the upcoming talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
However, Chinese experts said Biden will need to be more cautious and balanced as he wants to prevent the China-US tension from losing control. A senior White House official said Thursday Biden wants to use the talks with Xi to “build a floor” for the relationship – in other words, to prevent it from free-falling into open conflict, Reuters reported on Friday.
“As we expected, the Democrats retain at least 50 Senate seats, but still look likely to lose the House, which matters due to its budget control powers, so this means the partisan struggle between Democrats and Republicans will become even more intense,” Lü Xiang, an expert on US studies and a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday that if Republicans do regain control of the House, the commitments the Biden administration has made will be impacted on at least two issues – the Ukraine crisis and climate change, because Republicans have already questioned the necessity to provide Ukraine with such a huge amount of supplies, especially when the US economy is still in trouble, while the two parties always disagree on climate change.