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

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

US-China relations

Catherine Wong

Published: 2:00am, 12 May 2021

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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.

“The best way is to use ‘track two’ [informal dialogue] and private discussions first to reach consensus before turning to public negotiations – that way there’s a high chance of getting things done.”

Tensions between the two countries reached boiling point during the Trump era as their trade war spilled over into almost every aspect of relations and diplomatic channels dried up.

Since he took office in January, Biden has vowed to get tough on China and kept most of the previous administration’s policies, but some contact has resumed, including special climate envoy John Kerry’s visit to Shanghai last month and the recent easing of restrictions on student visas.

Tensions reached boiling point during the Donald Trump era. Photo: AFP

Biden has described China as America’s “most serious competitor” and vowed to confront Beijing over issues including human rights, intellectual property protection and its economic policy.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said China was the biggest geopolitical challenge that the US faced in the 21st century, and that Washington had to push back against China’s efforts to “trample democracy” and undercut human rights.

Speaking at the seminar on Tuesday, Jia Kang, a former researcher with the finance ministry, said Biden’s policies were less aggressive than Trump’s, and that gave China room to manoeuvre.

“It’s a good thing that Biden defined Russia as an opponent but China as a competitor. This is advantageous for China because defining China as a competitor means we can peacefully compete and we can fight without a breakdown,” Jia said.

“As long as the relationship doesn’t completely break down, we can maintain the trend that the US will eventually accept that the gap between the two countries is shrinking – but only when it has exhausted all means of containing China.”