Biden govt 'hesitant' to drop Trump's China policy

United States President Joe Biden has largely continued many of his predecessor's confrontational policies toward China but also has sought de-escalation, as both nations will benefit by working together or be harmed otherwise, experts said in reviewing the first 100 days of his presidency.

The US researchers said that from tariffs to personnel exchanges, the Biden administration has yet to initiate any substantive rollbacks, and that among the three aspects－"adversarial, competitive and cooperative"－of US-China relations as described by Biden's top diplomat Antony Blinken, competition is dominant while cooperation has yet to ramp up.

"Despite his stated desire to change the US approach toward Beijing, Biden has been hesitant to quickly undo several of his predecessor's China policies," said Paul Haenle, the Maurice R. Greenberg director's chair at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center at Tsinghua University.

In his first speech to the US Congress on Wednesday night, Biden talked tough on China, saying "China and other countries are closing in fast".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday that China has noticed media reports on the speech. It is normal to have competition between China and the US, but cooperation should be the mainstream of bilateral relations, he said.

Speaking at a news briefing in Beijing, he said that the two countries should compete with each other for excellence instead of beating each other.

"We need to improve ourselves rather than undercutting each other and seeking malicious competition and a zero-sum game," Wang said.

The spokesman said China has been committed to improving the livelihoods of the Chinese people. Some people in the US who cannot stop talking about China are actually led by a Cold War mentality and ideological bias against China, he said, adding that it shows their lack of confidence.

"We hope the US will… view China's development in an objective way and take on the demeanor a major country should have," Wang said.

Haenle, of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center, said in a recent article that on matters that Beijing considers its sensitive core interests, the administration has picked up where former US president Donald Trump left off, most recently easing restrictions governing US officials' engagement with Taiwan.

He noted, however, that the Biden team has sought to improve the overall tenor of the relationship by toning down the "antagonistic and adversarial" rhetoric while maintaining a competitive tone, indicating that the administration wants to avoid continuing tit-for-tat escalations while still appearing tough on China.

"While no one expected the administration to make drastic changes to the bilateral status quo right away, the danger moving forward is that the Biden administration could fail to meaningfully differentiate its approach from that of the Trump team and may end up with little flexibility to adjust course," Haenle wrote.

Norman J. Ornstein, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said on Tuesday that Biden's worldview is "radically different" from that of Trump.

But, he said, "It is difficult to make a complete turnaround in policy, including foreign policy, and so we've seen caution on the trade front and caution in other areas when it comes to relations with China."

'Important nuances'

David Dollar, a senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, also agreed that when it comes to China, Biden is largely continuing Trump's approach but with some "important nuances".

While Biden has emphasized rebuilding partnerships with allies attempting to counter China, most of them are not interested in a new Cold War, according to Dollar.

The US allies have deeper trade and investment relations with China than the US does, evidenced by the fact that since Biden's election, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have signed new economic agreements with China, Dollar noted.

"It is likely that over time, Biden's China policy will have to become either less confrontational or more unilateral," Dollar wrote.

While some experts commended the Biden team for eliminating counterproductive containment rhetoric toward Beijing and vowing to enhance cooperation with China on climate change, others said the administration lacks a practical China strategy.

Michael Swaine, director of the East Asia program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that the Biden administration has thus far failed to present a "realistic strategy" toward Beijing that reflects a recognition of the "urgent need" to stress shared leadership and military restraint over primacy and zero-sum rivalry, and prizes constructive cooperation over zero-sum economic and technological competition.

Rachel Esplin Odell, a researcher on East Asia at the Washington-based Quincy think tank, said that among the "most disappointing" aspects of Biden's China policy has been his failure to take swift action to revitalize the people-to-people exchanges with China that were gutted in the final year of the Trump administration.

"These exchanges are essential for enhancing mutual understanding and preventing conflict," Odell said, adding that Washington also needs to take steps toward reopening China's consulate in Houston, which was closed in July.

Ryan Hass, a senior fellow in the foreign policy program at Brookings, said that the relationship will stay tense for a while, but some positive things are unfolding.

"We no longer are spending our time analyzing tweets for clues as to the future direction of American policy toward China", because there are "real meaningful, serious conversations" taking place behind closed doors again about the future of the relationship, Hass said.

"I expect that this process will intensify when there are new ambassadors that arrive in each of our respective capitals," said Hass, who served as the US National Security Council's China director from 2013 to 2017.

Mo Jingxi in Beijing contributed to this story.