US-China relations ‘upended’ by Xi Jinping’s reign, says Bill Clinton

Name: What happened at the Chinese Communist Party’s major policy meeting, the fifth plenum?
Uploaded: 2020-11-19T04:20:42.000Z
Duration: 3 min 5 s
Description: What happened at the Chinese Communist Party’s major policy meeting, the fifth plenum?

Former president sits down with ex-British prime minister Tony Blair to talk about how Xi’s abolition of term limits has changed relationship

Joe Biden administration should work with allies for a coordinated approach, they recommend

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Former president Bill Clinton has called for a coordinated approach between the US and its allies when dealing with China. Photo: Getty Images

Bloomberg

Published: 12:20pm, 19 Nov 2020Updated: 3:30pm, 19 Nov 2020

Former US president Bill Clinton said Xi Jinping’s long-term reign had upended US-China relations, and that a more coordinated approach between the incoming Joe Biden administration and American allies was required when dealing with Beijing.

Clinton, who was in conversation with former British prime minister Tony Blair at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, said the US could strengthen its negotiating position with China by enlisting partners, from Europe to Asian nations that were part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact abandoned by President Donald Trump.

Xi has abolished term limits and could rule for years to come. Last month, he laid out an ambition to double the size of China’s economy by 2035 – suggesting he planned to remain in power for the foreseeable future.

“The old Chinese system, which was by no means a democracy, still guaranteed enough debate, and play, and openness because there was a regular rotation of leadership,” Clinton said.

“Now that it appears that a person is in charge of China who intends to stay there for life, in essence, that changes things. But we shouldn’t accept or assume that it’s all going to be bad without working to make it better.”

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What happened at the Chinese Communist Party’s major policy meeting, the fifth plenum?

Clinton noted “clear disagreements” between Washington and Beijing over crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong and the internment of Uygur Muslims in western China, but added there was a “desperate need to work together” on climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.