Rama Krishna Sangem
When Prime Minister Nanendra Modi reached America on his first state visit on June 21, an interesting development took place on the US-China relations. US secretary of state Antony Blinken just returned from a China visit where he met President Xi Jinping and held detailed talks to break the ice between the two countries.
At the outset these two developments may look unrelated, but there’s an underlying message here: That President Joe Biden is open to revive cordial relations with China under Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping welcomed Blinken’s visit and assured to work with the US in the coming days. Biden and Xi met at Indonesia city Bali during G-20 summit last November. They again will meet for the same summit at Delhi in September this year.
This is Blinken’s first visit to Beijing at the US secretary of state level visit to China in five years, since 2018. This is definitely a patch up meeting between the US and China, after former president Donald Trump strained ties with the communist regime with a spate of sanctions during his four year term.
Trump used to say, “They (China) are stealing our jobs” in the beginning. As he lost 2020 November presidential elections, Trump described Covid-19 as “China virus” and quit WHO in protest against its failure to nail China for the virus escaping from a Wuhan lab.
Biden for repairing China ties
President Biden is not that harsh against China, though he promised during his election to contain China at the global level. Republicans touted Trump as strong enough to take on China. So, Biden too assured to his bit on the front. The hard talk continued for sometime.
China’s aggression towards Taiwan, Xi’s strong statement after his 15th party congress meeting last year towards the US and finally the shooting down of spy balloons by American forces further strained their relations.
But, Biden is not for continuing this rivalry with China. This is due to two main reasons – One, Biden wants to win a re-election in 2024 November on his progress to show jobs creation back home, Two, American companies unwillingness to shift from China to India and other countries, due to geopolitical reasons. They still find China as the best country to work with, at least for manufacturing purpose.
The Biden administration now needs both India and China. Not India at the cost of China. Biden means business – to shore up slowing down of US economy and growing unemployment at home. Biden needs both the powerhouses – India and China – to overcome his troubles at home. Nothing else.
