China Hopeful For Better Relations With Incoming Biden Administration

With US-China relations at their lowest point in decades, Beijing is hoping that a change in administrations in Washington could reverse the dangerous path the two nuclear powers are on.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told China’s CGTN in an interview last week that he sees “a new window of hope” with the incoming administration. Wang called on Biden to “return to a sensible approach, resume dialogue with China, restore normalcy to the bilateral relations and restart cooperation.”

Wang said some US politicians “see China as the so-called biggest threat” and have formed their China policy on “serious misconceptions.” He said such policies “will find no support and is doomed to fail.”

The Trump administration’s anti-China policies were kicked into hyperdrive this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the rhetoric might be toned down, Biden’s China policies on trade and areas that risk military conflict like the South China Sea are not expected to be much different than Trump’s.

However Biden chooses to pursue relations with Beijing, he will be under a lot of pressure from Republican China hawks. Similar to the narrative that President Trump is soft on Russia, despite his hawkish Russia policies, a narrative is being built that Biden will roll over for the Chinese.

Biden’s cabinet nominees are expected to face a barrage of questions related to China during their confirmation hearings in the Senate. When Biden began announcing nominees in November, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) said Biden was “surrounding himself with panda huggers who will only reinforce his instincts to go soft on China.”