Relations between the United States and China are at a low point in the era after Trump and almost three weeks into his term President Biden
Joe Biden DOJ rejects lawsuit against author of Melania Trump storybook Google extends election security aid to federal, state campaigns. Biden supports House Democrats’ proposed threshold for COVID-19 checks MORE has yet to speak with his counterpart in Beijing, President Xi Jinping.
Biden has promised to take a different approach to China than before President Trump
Donald Trump DOJ wants to resign from most Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys: reports Trump attorney withdraws request not to hold indictment on Saturday Kinzinger in open calls to GOP senators to convict Trump in indictment MORE, who campaigned against China’s trade policy and blamed Beijing for the coronavirus that devastated the US economy in Trump’s re-election year.
“I’m not going to do it like Trump did,” Biden said in an interview with CBS on Sunday about his approach to Beijing. “We are going to focus on international road rules.”
Biden is under great pressure to take a tough line over Beijing, with Republicans already telegraphing. This will be a problem in the 2022 terms – and most likely the 2024 presidential election.
But the president also said he was willing to work with Beijing if it was in the interest of the US
These include efforts to defeat COVID-19, confront climate change, expand non-proliferation – in particular to bring Iran back to the 2015 nuclear deal and restore North Korea’s nuclear threat – and, more recently, to restore democracy in Myanmar following the military coup.
Tensions between the two countries are high in the post-Trump era, partly due to the rhetoric of the former president – who COVID-19 repeatedly called the “China virus”, citing the fact that the first cases in the Chinese city Wuhan has been identified. – but also because lawmakers in both parties criticize Beijing over a number of policies that affect the economy and national security.
Tensions have been pouring in to the South China Sea recently after Beijing denounced joint exercises by two US carrier groups calling it a US effort to ‘flex its muscles’ in the region seeking “peace and stability”. ‘ damage.
The comments follow Beijing’s earlier frustration with the US when a US warship sailed into the waters near Chinese-controlled islands, where a number of regional countries claimed.
The U.S. 7th Fleet said the move was a ‘freedom of navigation operation’, but the Chinese military has accused the US of violating China’s sovereignty and security.
Yet Chinese officials have also repeatedly called for “no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and a win-win cooperation” with the US
Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Biden was critical in his speech on foreign policy last week against Chinese policy – where he said that US leadership had “China’s ambitions to United States to contest “must confront. – but that the president and his team showed no haste to enter into talks with Beijing.
“They have other priorities, including coordination with allies and partners,” she wrote in an email to The Hill.
‘Meanwhile, the Chinese are sending the message that they are prepared to improve bilateral ties, but only if it is on Chinese terms. There needs to be another serious discussion between the two countries on how to manage their differences or how to work together on issues on which they can have common ground. â
Biden said in his interview with CBS on Sunday that there was no reason not to call Xi, and that the two had “a lot to talk about”.
The president said he did not seek conflict between the two countries, but warned that “there will be extreme competition.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Antony BlinkenColombia will register thousands of migrants in Venezuela to grant them legal residency. The Hill’s 12:30 report: Senate prepares for indictment process to begin Biden’s government announces plans to rejoin UN Human Rights Council. is so far the highest-ranking U.S. official to speak to the Chinese, in a call last week with senior Chinese Communist Party official and diplomat Yang Jiechi.
The conversation largely focused on conflicting aspects of the relationship, while the secretary raised the issue of human rights violations in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. On the latter issue, the secretary sided with the Trump administration over its determination to carry out genocide on the Muslim Uighurs and other ethnic groups.
Blinken also urged China to condemn the military coup in Myanmar.
Beijing has so far refrained from calling the military takeover a coup, although it has joined a statement by the United Nations Security Council calling for the country’s democratic rule to be restored and released by democratically elected detainees. government officials.
Both Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan
Jake Sullivan Overnight Defense: Biden Announces US Support for Offensive Operations in Yemen to Pentagon Order Masks Inside and Out | Military COVID deaths increase Biden: US takes ‘urgent’ steps to improve cyber security Biden condemns Navalny’s prison sentence in Russia MORE, who has not yet spoken to Chinese officials, has called on allies in Europe and Asia about China’s threat.
Sullivan had earlier said it was a priority to get on the same page with allies dealing with Beijing during an event last month with the US Institute of Peace.
“I think China is at the top of the list of things we need to work on and where there is work to be fully aligned,” he said.
Sullivan also said the US should be prepared to impose Beijing on human rights violations, but did not elaborate on the measures.
Yet Republicans are laying the groundwork to put Biden under greater pressure because he is going to have a hard time with Beijing. They are particularly critical of China’s influence in the World Health Organization.
Biden rejoined the world body on his first day in office, reversing Trump’s withdrawal from the organization in July over criticism that it does not confront Beijing over the distribution of COVID-19.
Sens Rick Scott (R-Fla.) En Josh Hawley
Joshua (Josh) David Hawley Oornight Defense: Pentagon says extremist groups recruit ‘very aggressive’ troops | Capitol Guard deployment estimated at 3 million | No U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan for a year VA secretary confirms Senate confirms Denis McDonough will lead VA under Biden. Accusing the IDP ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ MORE (R-Mo.) Seized on this criticism on Tuesday and introduced legislation aimed at withholding US funds from the WHO. Their statement follows the release of a WHO investigation that they have criticized for not addressing Beijing’s role in spreading the virus.
“The mission of the WHO is to provide public health information to the world so that each country can make the best decisions to keep its citizens safe,” Scott said in a statement. ‘The WHO not only failed in its mission, but also failed the world as the coronavirus. They served as a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party – which labeled misinformation and helped Communist China cover a global pandemic. ‘
The introduction of the bill coincided with the announcement of the WTO’s preliminary findings of an investigation into the origin of COVID-19 in China, which found that the disease was ‘likely’ from animals before it jumped to humans, although it did not judge the shortcomings of the world. reaction.
Hawley, who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024, criticized the WHO as prioritizing ‘the Chinese Communist Party’s interests over building a healthier world’.
Sen. Tom Cotton
Tom Bryant CottonOvernight Defense: Pentagon says extremist groups ‘very aggressive’ troops recruit Capitol Guard deployment estimated at 3 million | No U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan for a year VA secretary confirms Senate confirms Denis McDonough will lead VA under Biden. Accusing the IDP ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ MORE (R-Ark.), Also a potential presidential candidate, tweeted in response to the investigation that â[for] more than a year ago, the Chinese Communist Party apologized at [the WHO] tried to reverse the origin of the coronavirus. â
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley
Nikki HaleyBiden government announces plans to rejoin UN Human Rights Council US joins UN Human Rights Council again: report 5 lawyers leave Trump accusation team before trial: report MORE, another possible Republican presidential candidate, also criticized the WTO investigation, tweeting that it should have focused on ‘when China’ knew about the coronavirus ‘and why they withheld it from the rest of the world …’
Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin Graham DOJ to seek resignation from most Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys: Legislature report blames Trump for riots as second indictment comes ahead Sunday – Trump indictment, stimulus dominates MORE (RS.C.) warned in an interview with CBS ‘Meet the Press on Sunday against Biden throwing out Trump’s foreign policy wholesalers, including those related to China.
“I would delay if I were President Biden and reevaluate some of these Trump policies and keep them in place if it makes sense,” he said.