Biden’s contest with China, calls for Hong Kong sanctions, anger over TikTok ‘disinformation’: 7 reads about US-China relations

From Biden’s State of the Union address to fury over Hong Kong’s security law and anger over a possible TikTok ‘ban’, here are a few highlights from the SCMP’s overseas correspondents from March 2024

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US President Joe Biden delivers a campaign speech in Pennsylvania on March 8. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:30pm, 1 Apr 2024

We have selected seven of the biggest and most important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. ‘America is rising’: Biden uses State of the Union to push contest with China

“We want competition with China, but not conflict,” declared an energetic 81-year-old Joe Biden earlier this month during his last State of the Union address as US president before the country goes to the polls in November. “We’re in a stronger position to win the competition for the 21st century against China, or anyone else for that matter,” he said. Biden boasted of low US unemployment rates, controlled inflation and falling imports from China in contending that “America is rising”.

Read the full story here.

2. China and US battle fiercely on yet another tech front: patent applications

According to 2023 UN data, Chinese inventors led in international patent applications for the second year running, posting some 14,000 more than the second-place US. As China raises its game, reducing substandard filings, some analysts say its swooning economy and ageing population could blunt its innovation trajectory.

Read the full story here.

3. Vietnam minister credits ‘bamboo diplomacy’ for good relations with China and US

Vietnam’s foreign minister credited his Communist-ruled nation’s “bamboo diplomacy” for successfully balancing its relations with the rival global powers of China and the US. He also said the recent resignation of President Vo Van Thuong would not be destabilising. “In 2023, Vietnam hosted both US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping – which means Vietnam wishes and can have good relations with all major powers,” Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.