Ahead of Biden’s presidency, China calls for reset of its ties with US

Beijing, Dec 7: China on Monday called for a reset of its troubled ties with the US under the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden to rebuild mutual trust and end months of hostility between the world’s two largest economies.
President Donald Trump’s four-years in power is regarded as the worst phase in US-China relations as the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) headed by President Xi Jinping struggled to deal with Washington under an unpredictable American leader.
“The top priority is that both sides should work together to remove all kinds of disruptions and obstacles, and achieve a smooth transition in China-US relations,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a video meeting with business leaders from the US-China Business Council.
“At the same time, based on the direction of mutual benefits for our two peoples and countries, we need to strive to restart dialogue, return to the right track and rebuild trust in this next phase of relations,” he was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
Trump, a Republican, pushed aggressively on all aspects of US-China ties, including with his relentless trade war, challenging China’s military hold on the disputed South China Sea, its constant threats to Taiwan and branding coronavirus as ‘China virus’ after it emerged from Wuhan in December last year.
The Trump administration also lobbied hard with allies against Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, sanctioning Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Muslim-majority Xinjiang.
Earlier this month, Biden, a Democrat, confirmed that he will not make any “immediate moves” to lift the punitive tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed on imports of Chinese goods before a full review of the existing phase one trade deal and consultations with US allies, dampening China’s hopes that it would be able to renegotiate the trade agreement with the new US administration.
A Write-up in official media here, however, say Biden’s tenure could usher in a “buffering period” for already-tense China-US relations, and offer an opportunity for breakthroughs in resuming high-level communication and rebuilding mutual strategic trust between the two countries.
Outlining his eagerly awaited China policy, Biden in a recent interview with The New York Times said that the “best China strategy” was to get all traditional US allies in Asia and Europe “on the same page”, which will be his major priority “in the opening weeks” of his presidency.
Biden said his trade policies will focus on “China’s abusive practices”, including “stealing intellectual property, dumping products, illegal subsidies to corporations” and forced technology transfers.
Pitching for resumption of dialogue at all levels, Wang said China and the US should work in a direction that serves the common interests of the two countries and peoples, so that the two sides can restart dialogue, rebuild mutual trust and get bilateral ties back on track. (PTI)