U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Feb. 10, just before the Chinese New Year. It was the first between the top U.S. and Chinese leaders since the U.S. election on Nov. 3 of last year and was widely watched and commented on as it reportedly lasted two hours.
The Wall Street Journal commented that the Bay-Xi call came after Biden had already spoken with allies in Europe and Asia, suggesting that Biden seeks a global democratic leader, not just a U.S. president, to deal with China. Biden has long been a high-profile voice saying that valuing allies is what will give the U.S. an edge in its competition with China. In doing so, Biden rejected the policy line upheld by former President Trump of wrestling with U.S. allies on trade and security issues while dealing with China on a one-on-one basis.
That said, the Wall Street Journal immediately noted that “Biden’s plan is in some ways highly informed by Trump’s strategy,” including the previously revealed decision to hold off on eliminating Trump’s heavy tariff measures, leaving the decision on which tariffs to eliminate until after an evaluation of trade policy.
Meanwhile, a Washington Post article echoed the sentiment that Biden has borrowed heavily from Trump’s strategy, saying, “President Biden did not immediately reverse the tariffs imposed on China by former President Trump. The newspaper reported that Biden has no intention of maintaining the Trump-China trade war indefinitely, “but will use the tariffs on several Chinese goods as leverage while developing a larger strategy.
The Biden Administration has reversed some of Trump’s domestic policies by signing executive orders, but his most difficult reversal has been the previous administration’s policies on China. As the Trump Administration‘s China Policy has deeply altered Americans’ perceptions of the Communist regime, a broad bipartisan consensus has developed. The Biden administration’s China policy, no matter how it is changed, will inevitably be subject to significant constraints. The constraining forces come from the different political views among members of the Biden administration, from the bipartisan consensus that has clamped down on the CCP, and from the different demands of diverse social forces in the United States.
However, even with the multiple dilemmas, the Biden administration has said it needs Time to review the Trump administration’s proposed ban. On Thursday (Feb. 11), the Biden administration asked a federal appeals court to put on hold the appeal process of the Trump administration’s attempt to ban microsoft. Shortly before that, the Biden administration also asked another federal court to delay the TikTok ban appeal case.
Some Republican senators are keeping a close eye on the Biden administration’s actions and even attempts to downgrade the former North Korea policy, making high-profile statements about their concerns about the Biden administration’s position on China policy.
Republican Sen. Rick Scott tweeted Thursday in response to Biden’s first call with Xi Jinping: “President Biden’s weak measures against Communist China will not help protect our national security or hold them (China) accountable for genocide. Instead of relatable and pleasant calls, we need strong and aggressive action to confront the Chinese threat.”
Last week, senior U.S. Senator Ted Cruz expressed reservations about Biden’s Commerce Department nomination of Gina Raimondo after she refused to say during a Senate hearing whether to blacklist huawei from the economy.
News that a policy rule requiring U.S. schools to disclose ties to Confucius Institutes before the Trump administration left office was quietly “taken off the table” by the Biden administration also drew a barrage of heavy criticism from Republicans, who accused Biden of repealing Trump’s rule limiting Chinese infiltration of U.S. campuses.
Senator Rubio of Florida, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted: “The FBI has warned that the Chinese Communist Party is using Confucius Institutes to infiltrate U.S. schools. But now Biden has quietly withdrawn a Trump administration policy proposal requiring schools and universities to disclose partnerships with these agents of Chinese government influence.”
House Republican Leader and U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tweeted, “It’s been a year since the Chinese Communist Party allowed a pandemic to spread globally. Instead of holding them accountable on the cover-up, the Biden administration has given China a reward for allowing their propaganda to infiltrate our college campuses.”
In the face of the surge of criticism, the White House said Feb. 10 that the allegations of a withdrawal were “false.” A spokesman for the Biden administration also tried to explain that the United States’ strategic patience with China does not refer to Chinese policy.
Recent Comments