Biden casts US-China relations as a battle for the century
- US president tells joint sessions of Congress Xi Jinping is ‘deadly earnest’ about China becoming the most consequential nation in the world
- Relationship will be a litmus test of the merits of democracy versus autocracy and a competition to develop the technologies of the future, he says
Chinese President Xi Jinping was “deadly earnest about [China] becoming the most significant, consequential nation in the world,” Biden said on Wednesday, addressing a socially-distanced gathering of lawmakers in the House chamber.
“He and others – autocrats – think that democracy can’t compete in the 21st century with autocracies, because it takes too long to get consensus,” he said, appearing to veer off script, according to prepared remarks circulated by the White House before the speech.
“To win that competition in the future, in my view we also need to make a once-in-a-generation investment in our families and our children,” Biden said, as he urged lawmakers to support his US$1.8 trillion families and education package, which includes support for universal preschool and two years of free community college.
“We’re in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st century. We’re at a great inflection point in history, we have to do more than just build back … we have to build back better.”
The US was falling behind the rest of the world on advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, said Biden, whose signature “American Jobs Plan” allocates some US$90 billion for federal-directed research of critical technologies.