Who’s tougher on China? Trump and Biden attack each other in duelling ads

US President Donald Trump’s intensifying criticism of China isn’t just about deflecting blame during the coronavirus crisis – it’s opening up a new line of attack against Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

With the US death toll surpassing 35,000 on Friday and the nation’s economy in a record-shattering swoon, Trump’s re-election chances now rest heavily on his ability to successfully frame the choice voters will face in November as a referendum on China, according to the president’s campaign aides and allies.

For Trump, it’s an update of the unapologetic nationalism he ran on four years ago, when he played up dangers supposedly posed by Mexicans and illegal immigration, and cast opponents as weak and naive. For Biden, determined to avoid Hillary Clinton’s fate, it’s a political and cultural minefield to distance himself from China without demonising it as he makes his final bid for the White House.

Unwilling to let Trump’s arguments go unanswered, Biden’s campaign battled back on Friday with a spate of ads disputing his alleged support for China, and going on offence – blaming Trump for being too trusting of President Xi Jinping as the coronavirus spread.

In a new video, Biden agrees that Chinese authorities were not honest about the early outbreak in Wuhan, and sought to cover up the contagion and the deaths. But Trump, he said, “is not doing enough about it”.

“The uncomfortable truth is that Donald Trump left America vulnerable and exposed to this pandemic,” Biden said. “He ignored the warnings of health experts and intelligence agencies and put his trust in China’s leaders instead.”