Could Joe Biden put a world divided by Donald Trump back together again?

Name: Trump says UN must ‘hold China accountable’ for Covid-19
Uploaded: 2020-10-04T20:00:12.000Z
Duration: 34 s
Description: Trump says UN must ‘hold China accountable’ for Covid-19

Suggestions that the Sinosphere and the Amerisphere can coexist separately and should be left to their own devices are dangerous and naive. With the global economy in a precarious position, Biden must restore worldwide collective action if he wins the presidential election

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden adjusts his face mask while campaigning in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on October 2. Photo: Getty Images / TNS

Anthony Rowley

Published: 4:00am, 5 Oct 2020Updated: 7:11am, 17 Oct 2020

Can the divided halves of the globe – the Sinosphere and the Amerisphere – come back together in the event that American voters reject US President Donald Trump next month (and that he can be ejected from the White House)? The two halves can and must reunite before things really fall apart in the global economy.

Crises are looming on multiple economic fronts, including an imminent global debt crisis and economic recession, not to mention a resurgent Covid-19 and the growing climate emergency. This is certainly no time for leaders to be pulling the world apart into East and West hemispheres.

How soon healing might happen under a Biden presidency would depend upon whether the would-be new leader is willing and able to strike out in a rational and farsighted new direction to achieve better relations with China rather than lashing out in the angry, shortsighted way Trump has done.

Fortunately, there have been some quite promising auguries from the Biden camp in this regard. His advisers have reportedly said they would prioritise domestic issues to enable the US to compete with China from a position of economic strength rather attack it on trade and other fronts.

This is precisely the kind of “make America grow again” approach that has been advocated on many occasions in this column as an alternative to Trump’s more destructive “make America great again” by cutting off its rivals’ legs (figuratively speaking).

00:34

Trump says UN must ‘hold China accountable’ for Covid-19

“I don’t think the question is who’s tough or who’s weak on China,” former US deputy secretary of state Tony Blinken said. “The question is who has the most effective strategy to protect and advance [US] prosperity, values and security.”

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x