Joe Biden is planning to confront China across the globe, embracing some of President Trump’s goals but rejecting his means.
The big picture: By starting a trade war with China, Trump has fundamentally altered the U.S.- China relationship — and forced both Republicans and Democrats to accept a more confrontational approach towards Beijing.
What we are watching: Biden has called President Xi Jinping a “thug” and his campaign has accused China of “genocide” of Uighurs in Xinjiang, a term that the Trump administration has not deployed.
- Michèle Flournoy, a good bet to head Biden’s Pentagon, suggested in June that the U.S. should have the capability to “to sink all of China’s military vessels, submarines, and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours.”
- Biden has also hit Trump for being “the first American president in three decades who has not met or spoken with His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” and has pledged to meet with Tibet’s spiritual leader as president.
Go deeper: If Trump sees China mainly through a trade and coronavirus lens, Biden views the relationship as multifaceted contest that will determine the international order for several generations.
The bottom line: If elected, Biden’s immediate decisions on tariffs — and potentially Taiwan — will set the tone for his relationship with China.
- But he’ll make sure to always consult allies and avoid the kind of one-on-one showdowns that Trump relished.
- And he won’t score the relationship just by looking at trade deficits.