By Melissa Cox
Your commercial awareness dose
As Joe Biden reached 270 electoral votes after winning Pennsylvania, he has become the US President-Elect and is expected to become the 46th President of the United States of America. Now, people are questioning what could become of US-China relations under a Biden administration? There have been drastic changes between the two superpowers over the past four years under the current President, Donald Trump. Joe Biden has extensive experience working with the Chinese government within various political roles, most well known as Vice President to the 44th US President Barack Obama from 2009-2017, or as US Senator for Delaware from 1973-2009. As Biden has not yet revealed any definite plan for dealing with US-China relations, people are questioning what approach he will be taking to try and ease tensions.
Over the past four years, some have expressed beliefs that US-China tensions have risen to a level that could be deemed a cold war, as we have seen all-time highs in the tension between the two. 2018 saw the beginning of the US-China ‘trade war’ with Trump introducing tariffs and harsher trade barriers for China. The Chinese government have voiced their thoughts that this is a violation of global trade rules, alongside other complaints in a report submitted to the World Trade Organization mid-September. Many believe that it is unlikely that President-Elect Biden will actually change the harsh trade barriers Trump set in place, but will likely adjust the tariffs causing a negative effect on certain groups of American people, for example, those working in agriculture.
There could stand a chance for reconciliation between the US and China as there are predictions that Biden will collaborate well with the Chinese government to conduct research into a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the development for the said vaccine. As handling COVID-19 will be President-elect Biden’s primary focus once in office, this could allow for a cool-down period of tensions between the US and China.
Throughout Trump’s presidency, he has clamped down on Chinese investment in US high tech as well as the presence of Chinese social media in the US.
An example of this is Trump’s attempt to ban Chinese apps such as WeChat and TikTok (also known as DouYin 抖音), by claiming they are threats to US security. However, this was unsuccessful. Trump did manage to implement bans on Huawei and the sale of their technical equipment in relation to 5G operations in the US in 2019. It is believable that Biden could possibly relax some of the restrictions regarding tech; however, the Chinese government should not expect any drastic changes.
During the second presidential debate in October 2020, Biden mentioned that he intends to work with other countries to put pressure on the Chinese government to ‘play by the rules’ – “These are the rules. You play by them, or you’re going to pay the price for not playing by them economically.” He voiced similar views all the way back in 2013 as a US Senator, upon a visit to China, where he expressed his wishes for the Chinese people to ‘Challenge the government.’
As the ongoing issues in the Northwest of China in Xinjiang, involving Uyghur Muslims as well as the people in Hong Kong who are speaking out against the Chinese government, continue to escalate, the victims of these issues are looking to the US for a President who can intervene. Biden has openly labelled Chinese President Xi Jinping a ‘thug’ earlier this year in February over the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and many believe he will take on the same strong stance as Trump with these issues. It is also unlikely that Biden will drastically de-escalate the US naval presence in the South China Sea or put a halt to the US support of Taiwan.
People can only speculate as to what approach Biden will be taking with handling relations with China. There is hope for a less malicious rivalry between the two powers, but it is still unknown how exactly the US and China’s relationship will change under Biden.
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