China is gearing up to deal with a new US administration after a particularly difficult year during which it suffered a serie
China is gearing up to deal with a new U.S. administration after a particularly difficult year during which it suffered a series of diplomatic setbacks owing to COVID-19, trade war and human rights issues. A question being widely asked is whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will get along better with President Joe Biden than he did with former President Donald Trump. Most analysts say Biden will be in no hurry to undo many Trump administration China decisions but that he is more likely to focus on human rights and strategic issues than trying to make life more difficult for Chinese business. „There is a bipartisan consensus in Washington to be tough on China,“ said Zhiqun Zhu, head of the international relations department at Bucknell University. The Trump administration announced a flurry of restrictions and penalties against China during its last few months making it politically impossible or technically difficult for the incoming administration to roll them back, Scott Kennedy, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said. Antony Blinken, Biden’s nominee to be secretary of state, has said he agrees with his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, about the need to be tough on China. „I think we should be looking at making sure that we are not importing products that are made with forced labor from Xinjiang… we need to make sure that we’re also not exporting technologies and tools that could be used to further their repression. That’s one place to start,“ he said. There are other key issues that will likely affect U.S.-China relations. Chinese leaders do not wish to be seen as doing Washington’s bidding on what they consider sensitive and „core issues“ such as the situations in Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and issues such as human rights, according to a Chinese analyst who does wish to be named.
