Opinion | How will Joe Biden handle the great American shift into being a lesser power?

Under the world’s keen watch, US President Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping on February 11. He made public his censure of China on human rights issues regarding Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and its “coercive and unfair” trade practices, largely for the benefit of his audience at home. The call lasted for two hours.

After his call to Xi, Biden summoned a bipartisan group of senators to discuss the need to upgrade American infrastructure to compete with the Chinese, warning: “If we don’t get moving, they are going to eat our lunch.”

These have happened as Biden, who enjoys a high approval rating of 68 per cent, according to a Gallup poll, promises to promote unity and boost the economy at home while forging an international liberal democracy alliance against China and Russia.

However, one is well advised to keep cool about the chances of Biden making it. For one, since the January 6 US Capitol storming and ensuing clampdown on those deemed culpable, the Republicans and their populist base remain defiant.

Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo has landed a position with the Hudson Institute as he supposedly brews his plans to campaign for the next presidency. Senator Ted Cruz is reintroducing a bill to limit congressmen to two terms, enhancing his post-Trump heavyweight status. And House minority leader Kevin McCarthy went all the way to Florida to pay court to Trump after his White House departure.