President Biden's Sunday speech on foreign policy highlights his administration's commitment to standing up to communist China, but foreign policy experts are questioning the legitimacy of his claims to be extremely competitive with the Asian economic power.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden gave a speech on foreign policy, stating, "America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy." He immediately delved into addressing issues with the two superpowers, China and Russia.
One of Biden's promises is that under his administration, the country will commit to face the "advancing authoritarianism" in the form of communist China's "growing ambitions" and Russia's "determination to damage and disrupt our democracy."
President Biden shared that he has already communicated with several of the United States' allies, including neighbors Canada and Mexico, as well as the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and NATO to strengthen its democratic alliances that he claims the previous administration had tarnished. Biden's promises also included a commitment to stand up to communist China, a statement that earned experts' criticism.
According to One America News Network's Hans Hubbard, Biden seems to be caught between "the need to appear strong against Beijing" and his "natural inclination to acquiesce to Chinese demands."
Experts are calling out Biden's ambivalence on communist China's growing global influence, as it seemed that his speech was more directed to the State Department employees and foreign diplomats instead of the general foreign audience. TIME reports that among Biden's promises were a "return to normalcy" following the previous administration's alleged "mishandling" of foreign affairs.
OANN noted that one can question the "merits of a so-called return to normalcy," especially if this means a return to the "conciliatory policies" enacted by the Obama administration. These policies allowed China to establish its global influence.
Biden, who has spent more than four decades in politics, was Obama's vice president from 2009 to 2017, and was "a leading proponent - if not 'the' leading proponent of appeasing China," OANN noted.
This prompted experts to question his promises to stand up to communist China.
Biden said that his leadership is committed to "confront China's economic abuses; counter its aggressive, coercive action; to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance."
Biden, however, immediately followed his promises with a "but." He said,
"But we are ready to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so."
Sunday's speech suggested that Biden's policy when it comes to China isn't really focused on what the communist-led nation will do. Rather, "we will compete from a position of strength by building back better from home."
He didn't spend time elaborating on what his plans for China really are, but he did insert comments denigrating the Trump administration's work - particularly its foreign policy that made sure to prioritize America first.
Interestingly, according to CNBC, Biden admitted how he knows China's Xi Jinping "pretty well," enough to know that "He's very bright and he's very tough and doesn't have a democratic bone in his body."
This adds another layer of complexity as to how Biden plans to stand up to communist China.
