Biden’s China Plan
China and the United States have now entered a new phase of media and political confrontation that is the result of a months-long process.
The ruling party of China has spent months restructuring China’s administrative framework and purging unsuitable forces. The dismissal and arrest of the foreign and defense ministers on various charges symbolize this cleansing process, which has continued at different executive and administrative levels.
In this process, the party’s behavior within China changed, and severe restrictions and constraints were imposed on specific international economic companies and institutions that played a significant role in the country’s economic boom. Alongside these developments, the consequences of China’s escalating confrontation with the United States due to the Taiwan crisis and the increased likelihood of Chinese action to seize the island led to successive waves of military and defense planning by China and the United States, and numerous military maneuvers by China on one side and the United States and its allies on the other.
Despite this, the political approach and discourse of both sides claim de-escalation and accuse the other of escalating tensions. The release of a New York Times report on the nuclear-military policy drafted by the United States, which Biden approved after consulting with his advisors, has inflamed the atmosphere.
These new policies ensure the deterrence and readiness of the United States to confront the growing threat of China and Russia.
Specifically, the increase in China’s nuclear-military capability is of great importance to Pentagon experts.
The future projection by the Pentagon of China’s nuclear capability is a powerful nuclear arsenal that will have over a thousand nuclear warheads by 2030, thereby doubling the number of operational nuclear warheads. Chinese officials reacted strongly to the release of this new policy, describing it as U.S. escalation. The new official stance is essentially a repetition of China’s previous claims, and they have openly stated that they do not intend to engage in military competition with any country.
Publications affiliated with China’s ruling party have detailed and typically blamed the United States for the tensions between the two countries.
The concepts presented are also familiar to Iranians: the United States should address its own situation and reflect on its own behavior.
It is the United States that is the source of tension. The Biden administration, in these circumstances, has little time for media confrontation at this level and is engaged with the international crises of the Ukraine conflict and, more importantly, the Gaza crisis.
The current response of the U.S. government has been simple: this nuclear-military policy is not about any specific country and has various dimensions. In this context, despite new tensions in U.S.-China relations, the interactions created by Biden’s team have taken on special meaning.
One of the most important interactions of the Biden administration with the ruling Chinese government is the establishment of a trade interaction structure and economic policy.
The Chinese are facing deep crises in their financial and economic system. The crisis in the construction industry, which has been one of the most important areas of economic growth, is nothing new and has severely affected China’s financial system.
Even the Chinese government’s financial aid packages to boost financial circulation in the housing purchase cycle and help bankrupt and semi-bankrupt companies have had no effect.
The production and consumption crisis, especially the lack of consumer activity in China’s markets and the public’s disinterest in spending, has severely slowed down the internal financial cycle.
Meanwhile, the activities of two key figures in the Biden administration are encouraging the Chinese to cooperate with this government.
Janet Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury, and Gina Raimondo, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, have been holding significant negotiations with the Chinese for a long time and have formed joint teams and working groups with them.
The latest result of Biden’s team program is the formalization of the finance working group between the two countries, which will work together to tackle international financial crises. The most important step in this period will be taken by Jake Sullivan.
Biden’s National Security Advisor will soon head to China to talk with the foreign policy officials of the ruling party.
These negotiations are supposed to prepare the program for a new meeting between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, and the likelihood of this meeting is increasing.
The political impact of such a development, if it occurs, will be significant. While Trump is unable to present a coherent foreign policy discourse, perhaps even the Chinese, who once viewed Trump’s presidency and its destructive impact on America as an advantage, will seek stability and calm, moving away from him and finding more assurance with Biden.