Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Report: Generating Momentum for New Era in US-China Relations


Fri 10 Sep 2021 | 01:58 PM

The Biden administration appeared determined to abandon its hostile policy of engagement with China, as the giant Asian nation has become the US' greatest strategic competitor.

There is also another broader inconsistency in U.S. foreign policy when it comes to China. Despite differences in ideology and national governance systems, China and the US have been respecting each other's governing forces, development paths, and choices on systems.

In the 1990s, the U.S administration attempted to adopt a hostile policy toward China based on an anti-communist ideology and West-centered human rights diplomacy.

However, China had a strong will and determination to confront the US. The giant Asian nation has been clearly sticking to the path of reform and opening-up, as well as rising peacefully.

This ultimately made the American administration realize at that time the importance of mutual respect, mutually beneficial cooperation between the US and China, and that the only option for dealing with China-US relations was "constructive engagement.

Lately, Chinese President Xi Jinping has adopted this old Chinese policy towards the current US administration when he spoke with his US counterpart Joe Biden for the first time in seven months.

In a bid to reset strained relations and to break an impasse in the Sino-US relationship after previous top-level meetings produced little progress, Joe Biden has held his second call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping since becoming the official president of the capital nation.

Biden's administration had “underscored the United States’ enduring interest in peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world”.

Both leaders also discussed the “responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict” during the call.

According to a statement released by The White House, Biden told his Chinese counterpart that the United States wants to ensure "the dynamic remains competitive and that we don't have any situation in the future where we veer into unintended conflict." This remark came during a phone call between the two politicians. It was also the first time the two presidents have spoken since February.

On the other side, China’s foreign ministry revealed the recent talks were fruitful, adding that US policies towards Beijing were responsible for “serious difficulties” in relations. 

A senior US official told the media that Biden requested the call after the White House concluded that Chinese officials who met their US counterparts this year were “unwilling to engage in serious or substantive conversations.” 

Responding to Biden's recent decision, the official said: "This focal shift is also evident in U.S policy towards China."

In June, China‘s commerce ministers and the U.S. agreed to push forward trade and investment links in their first call since the start of the Biden administration.

In a phone call, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and his counterpart Gina Raimondo agreed to promote the healthy development of pragmatic cooperation in trade and investment.

At that time, the Chinese government said, “The two “exchanged views frankly and pragmatically on relevant issues and mutual concerns.”

In a step to help build a collaborative dialogue, the US and China have agreed to cooperate on the climate change issue after two days of high-profile meetings in Shanghai.

In a joint statement by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and China Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua released in May, Washington and Beijing explained the climate crisis “must be addressed with seriousness and urgency” and agreed to work together to “strengthen” the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

It’s worth noting that the two massive countries will also continue to discuss, both on the road to COP 26 and beyond, concrete actions in the 2020s to decrease emissions aimed at keeping the Paris Agreement-aligned temperature limit within reach, according to the reports.

The U.S administration has been continuously accusing China of genocide against the Uighur population in the province of Xinjiang.

Also in this regard, the U.S claimed that Beijing is trampling on democratic rights in Hong Kong with a recently introduced security law that critics say is being used to crack down on dissent.

The U.S administration saw China as the main adversary, because of its own expansionist policies toward Taiwan and China's sea area, according to American media.

On the other hand, China's government has repeatedly urged the US to stop interfering in what Beijing considers its internal affairs and accuses Washington of "smearing" the ruling Communist Party.