‘Either way, an anti-China hawk wins’: Why Beijing does not expect Joe Biden victory to change relationship with US
- Former vice-president ‘has never been a China-friendly guy and China knows it’, according to one observer
- Victory for Democrat candidate in November may pose different challenges to Beijing but both him and Donald Trump are seen as critics in China
Former US vice-president Joe Biden is expected to take a tough stance towards China on the campaign trail after being formally confirmed as the Democratic candidate on Saturday.
Chinese observers said that from Beijing’s point of view, the result of November’s election is unlikely to make much difference and Washington would continue to put pressure on Beijing whoever wins.
“Mr Biden has never been a China-friendly guy and China knows it, but at least Biden is open to negotiation,” Yu Wanli, deputy director of the Lian An Academy think tank in Beijing.
But that does not mean China will face less tension internationally, as Biden is known as an internationalist and it is likely he would improve relations with traditional US allies, many of whom Donald Trump has alienated.
“Biden will unite US allies to deal with China, so the multilateral struggle will intensify,” said Yu.
“For China, Biden will be a similar anti-China hawk even if he wins the election, just in different ways than Trump,” said Wang Yiwei, an international relations expert from Renmin University.