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A screen shows President Joe Biden addressing a joint session of the 117th Congress on the eve of his 100th day in office, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., April 28, 2021. /Getty
Editor's note: Mustafa Hyder Sayed is the executive director of the Pakistan-China Institute. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
On April 28, U.S. President Joe Biden's address to Congress, traditionally meant to address domestic policies, made an exception with multiple references to what seems to Washington as its biggest foreign policy challenge: China. Biden's policy speech was consistent with that of his predecessors including Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush. It demonstrated to the American people that U.S. interests are being threatened by an external enemy- a strategy which has often been used to rally consensus in Washington and leveraged by the White House domestically.
Whilst Biden has departed from Trump's unilateral approach in foreign policy in dealing with China, by rejoining the WHO, working with China on climate change, and restoring multilateral diplomacy with partners – is there a substantive difference in their China policies? Is calling Beijing out for alleged misconduct in areas of divergence with Washington a tangible policy that can advance U.S. interests?
In his speech to Congress, Biden said that the U.S. "aims to win the 21st Century" and "China and other countries are closing in fast. We have to develop and dominate the products and technologies of the future."
As Washington forges and evolves its China policy, it is imperative that it identifies and understands what are Beijing's core interests and how and where Washington's interests may diverge with Beijing. If Beijing's core interests and policies are misunderstood, and Washington makes its China policy based on those misunderstood policies, a spiral of confusion, blowback and policy fog will result. As Kishore Mahbubani, senior fellow at the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, states in his recent book, "Has China Won," "China's goal is to preserve peace and harmony among 1.4 billion people in China, not try to influence the lives of the 6 billion people who live outside China."
Furthermore, it is important to understand that competing with China is not an event, it is a process. Washington cannot choose to pick up the proverbial competition "wand," and announce that henceforth Washington will seek to lead the world in renewable energy, technology and artificial intelligence. Since 1979, China has been consistently focusing on domestic economic growth, building a strong middle class, and increasing the disposable income of its populace. As reported in the New York Times and National Public Radio in April 2019, former U.S. President Trump called former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to discuss China and that Trump was concerned about how China "is getting ahead of us."
Members of Congress and Vice President Kamala Harris (2nd R) make their way to President Joe Biden's address to a joint session of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., April 28, 2021. /Getty
In the phone call, Carter told Trump, "I normalized diplomatic relations with China in 1979. Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None. And we have stayed at war."
China's status as the second-biggest economy in the world and biggest contributor to the world's GDP is a culmination of many decades of focused and consistent policies, which have catapulted China to the forefront of what is being called the Asian Century.
For the U.S. to continue its self-styled role as the world's policeman is no longer sustainable and realistic. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that was signed in November 2020 has proactively engaged and institutionalized economic cooperation among key Asian economies that include Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and Australia, which are generally considered partisan to Washington. On December 30, 2020, China and the EU announced a mammoth investment agreement with the European Union, which is the ComprehensiveAgreement on Investments (CAI) and the European Commission called it "the most ambitious agreement that China has ever concluded with a third country."
The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled most states to prioritize reviving economic growth in their respective countries and the coming years will be geared to doing exactly that. This is where Beijing's economic leverage comes in. China's economy has fared better than most during the pandemic and its ability to mobilize financing and investment from its financial institutions and state-owned enterprises remains unmatched. There is no country apart from the United States, and maybe India, that would decline prospective Chinese investment.
Washington seems to be preparing for increased interference beyond its borders, particularly in Asia, where it wishes to somehow reduce or stunt China's influence. However, Beijing will continue to focus on economic growth, enhancing domestic demand and maintaining social stability and harmony. An opportunity still exists for Washington to review its approach towards Beijing. Biden should acknowledge China as a major power that has a stake in the international system and needs to be consulted on important issues, not confronted.
The U.S. government should also seek to expand areas of cooperation and convergence where U.S. and Chinese companies can form joint ventures, or both governments can undertake joint research and development. What's more, it needs to abandon policy statements that critique China, apart from stirring domestic nationalism, and those disagreements and reservations should be voiced in private diplomatic channels.
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