Joe Biden shows ‘more continuity than expected’ from Donald Trump policy on China

Name: Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring
Uploaded: 2021-05-11T18:00:13.000Z
Duration: 2 min 23 s
Description: Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring

Foreign policy scholars in Beijing say a ‘rational’ US president is better than a ‘reckless’ one despite containment strategy

They call for more backchannel discussions rather than fiery public meetings between officials like the Alaska talks in March

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Chinese foreign policy scholars say US President Joe Biden’s administration has taken a more focused and systematic approach on China. Photo: EPA-EFE

Catherine Wong

Published: 2:00am, 12 May 2021Updated: 5:02am, 12 May 2021

US President Joe Biden has so far shown more continuity from his predecessor than expected when it comes to China, according to Chinese foreign policy scholars.

But at a seminar on the US leader’s first 100 days in office on Tuesday, they concluded that a “rational” Biden was better than a “reckless” Donald Trump, even as Beijing faces a continued containment strategy from Washington.

“Judging from Biden’s first 100 days, there is more continuity than the changes that we expected. The Biden administration also has a more focused and systematic approach,” said Ni Feng, head of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Chinese and US officials publicly clashed in Alaska when they met for the countries’ first high-level talks during the Biden presidency in March. But Ni told the seminar – hosted by Renmin University of China in Beijing – that “it’s better to fight in a face-to-face meeting than to fight without any chance of a meeting”.

02:23

Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring

The sparring that played out in front of the cameras in Alaska should be avoided by using backchannels for substantial discussion, according to Jia Qingguo, a professor with Peking University’s School of International Studies.

“If China and the US are to improve communication, it is best not to arrange these [public] meetings first because they are easily politicised and undermined by domestic politics in both countries,” said Jia, a member of political advisory body the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

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