US under Joe Biden must capitalise on, not thwart, China’s successes

Name: US-China relations: Joe Biden would approach China with more ‘regularity and normality’
Uploaded: 2020-11-25T17:00:11.000Z
Duration: 6 min 4 s
Description: US-China relations: Joe Biden would approach China with more ‘regularity and normality’

China’s policy wins do not have to mean US policy failures. Assuming China’s success in its geopolitical endeavours, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, and working backwards to maximise the US’ ability to capitalise on those outcomes would be using China’s momentum against it.

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Chinese staff adjust US and Chinese flags before the opening session of trade negotiations between US and Chinese trade representatives at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on February 14, 2019. Photo: Reuters

Matt Strabone

Published: 1:00am, 26 Nov 2020Updated: 2:44am, 26 Nov 2020

US president-elect Joe Biden will enter the White House in January to find America’s standing in the world substantially diminished and China’s on the rise.

His instinct will be to rebalance US foreign policy and return the country to its posture of international engagement, perhaps looking to the Obama administration for inspiration, but a mere rebalancing will not be enough to put the United States on the best path forward.

A full recalculation of the US-China rivalry is needed, and it should focus on how the US can capitalise on China’s geopolitical successes rather than how it can prevent them.

US policymakers have produced few comprehensive policies for managing the rise of China. Some of the major steps that have been attempted, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, have failed to generate sufficient domestic support to make them a reality.

American efforts to integrate China into the current rules-based international order – an order that has been underpinned by the US since the end of World War II – have proven ineffective, with China’s admission to and exploitation of the World Trade Organization being a prime example.

06:04

US-China relations: Joe Biden would approach China with more ‘regularity and normality’

China’s desire to create a new and separate international order that it leads has been a driving force behind its foreign policy in the 21st century.