PRESSING ON RUSSIA
The Biden administration’s eagerness to engage China stands in stark contrast to its efforts to isolate Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
After initially being pleased that Beijing has not directly supplied weapons to Russia, the United States in recent weeks has accused China of lavishing industrial material and technology on Moscow.
Washington has encouraged European leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who recently visited Beijing, to stand firm on not backing Russia, believing that China wants stable ties with the West as it focuses on addressing economic headwinds at home.
“If China purports on the one hand to want good relations with Europe and other countries, it can’t on the other hand be fuelling what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War,” Blinken said Friday after Group of Seven talks in Capri, Italy.
Biden has not shied away from other concerns, months ahead of an election rematch with Donald Trump, who has championed a tough line with China.
Biden this month accused China – a comparatively small exporter of steel to the United States – of “cheating” on the product and told union workers he would seek higher tariffs.
On the eve of flying to China, Blinken renewed accusations that Beijing is carrying out “genocide” against the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority.
That allegation, which Beijing rejects, was first raised by the Trump administration.
Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said that China’s leaders, eager to focus on their economy, were in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the US election.
“The Chinese understand that the Biden administration is unlikely to deliver any good news on trade because that simply does not support the election agenda,” she said.
For Chinese leaders this year, “their priority is to keep the relationship stable”.
“Until there is clarity on who the next administration will be, I don’t think they see a better strategy,” she said.