State of the Union: China competition looms large as Joe Biden addresses Congress

In a prelude to another possible run for the White House, US President Joe Biden said the United States is in the “strongest position in decades” to compete with China, and would act if China threatens US sovereignty. “Today, we’re in the strongest position in decades to compete with China or anyone else in the world,” Biden said on Tuesday, in his second State of the Union address and first since Republicans took the House of Representatives in November. “Winning the competition [with China] should unite all of us,” Biden said, in a 73-minute speech that explicitly mentioned China five times. Though domestic issues like immigration, healthcare and inflation dominated the address, foreign policy – and its ties to domestic issues – also played a significant role. Competition with China loomed throughout the address. Biden’s speech came as the US seeks answers to the appearance of a suspected Chinese spy balloon in American airspace, which led to the postponement last week of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing. Blinken postpones China trip after Beijing admits owning balloon spotted over US “Before I came to office, the story was about how the People’s Republic of China was increasing its power and America was failing in the world,” Biden said. “Not any more,” he continued. “I mentioned in my personal conversation … with President Xi that we seek competition, not conflict. “I will make no apologies that we are investing to make America strong. Investing in American innovation, in industries that will define the future, and that China’s government is intent on dominating,” Biden added. Starved of chips, China faces ‘unprecedented’ pressure to become No 1 economy The State of the Union is the US president’s annual address to a joint session of Congress. It is used to highlight an administration’s accomplishments, assessment of the country’s situation and policy priorities for the year ahead. Ahead of a presidential election year, it also serves to frame top issues for another potential run for office. Biden used the occasion to highlight a new semiconductor plant being built in Columbus, Ohio, amid popular concerns over the state of the economy and efforts to reshore manufacturing. “We’re going to make sure the supply chain for America begins in America,” Biden said to a standing ovation. Biden hailed the Chips and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, two bills he signed into law last year supporting domestic manufacturing that were framed as a way to decrease American dependence on China. He also implicitly acknowledged the balloon incident, which drew responses last week that fell largely along partisan lines. Though both parties acknowledged the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was a violation of US sovereignty, Republicans criticised the administration for not shooting it down immediately. Biden repeated that he was “committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world” but emphasised that he would defend the US against perceived incursions by Beijing. “Make no mistake about it: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did,” he said. Shortly before the speech, China’s embassy in the US announced that Xu Xueyuan, Beijing’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, lodged “stern representations with senior officials of the US Department of State and White House National Security Council on the US attack on a Chinese unmanned civilian airship by force”. Arguing that democracies have strengthened and autocracies have weakened, Biden dared the crowd to “name me a world leader who’d change places with Xi Jinping”. While defending Taiwan was not explicitly mentioned, Biden touted that his administration was “modernising our military to safeguard stability and deter aggression”. Ukraine also featured prominently, with the address delivered less than three weeks ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Biden highlighted America’s work with European allies to push against Russian aggression and said the US would “work with allies to protect our advanced technologies so they’re not used against us”. EU joins US in ‘depriving China of the most advanced chips’, official says Heading into Tuesday’s speech, the polling website FiveThirtyEight put Biden’s disapproval rating at 52.3 per cent, compared with 43.2 per cent approval, a minus 9.1 point net approval rating. Even so, it constitutes a marginal improvement over his rating at the same time last year. The speech was important to Biden in terms of shoring up his credibility for a possible re-election bid. Biden, 80, would be 82 by Inauguration Day 2025. Recent polls show that significant parts of the electorate – including Democrats – regard his age as an impediment to a second term. To counter the criticisms, Biden struck an energetic tone and touted his bipartisan wins. “I signed over 300 bipartisan pieces of legislation since becoming president … There is no reason we cannot work together and find consensus on important things in this Congress as well.” Despite Biden’s bipartisan outreach, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who had been press secretary for Donald Trump, struck a sharp tone during the Republican response delivered after the president’s address. Among her criticisms of the Biden administration, she said “the president’s refusal to stand up to China, our most formidable adversary, is dangerous and unacceptable”.

State of the Union: China competition looms large as Joe Biden addresses Congress

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Supply chains, semiconductors and suspected Chinese spy balloon all highlighted in 73-minute speech to Congress US president insists America will act ‘if China threatens our sovereignty’

Supply chains, semiconductors and suspected Chinese spy balloon all highlighted in 73-minute speech to Congress

US president insists America will act ‘if China threatens our sovereignty’