The chances of the tension easing between the U.S. and China after President Joe Biden’s inauguration have dwindled from slim to none in recent weeks, as Beijing has resumed its heavy-handed 21st century diplomacy. But while Biden’s State Department hasn’t shied away from prodding China on sensitive subjects, it has also sought to do so through a more broad-based coalition — one with the potential to achieve more lasting results than predecessor Donald Trump did with his go-it-alone bravado.
This united front was on display last week at a summit in Brussels with U.S., NATO and European Union officials, at the end of a tumultuous week in which China and the West clashed over systematic human rights abuses China is committing against ethnic Uyghurs in the country’s far-west Xinjiang province, where Amnesty International says Uyghurs are subject to “intrusive surveillance, arbitrary detention and forced indoctrination.”
Earlier that week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought the U.S., Canada, Britain and the EU together to impose sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for the brutalities in Xinjiang. Shortly before the Friday summit, China retaliated with rage against what it called “lies and disinformation,” imposing sanctions on 10 Europeans and four institutions that spotlight human rights abuses in China; a day earlier, Chinese state media called for a boycott of several European clothing and shoe companies.
It was viewed by many in Europe as a disproportionate response, one that provoked the ire of conservative British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said those sanctioned were “performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims. … and I stand firmly with them.” An investment agreement between the EU and China reached in December is now reportedly doomed as a result.
This was no accident. It was the fruit of Blinken’s labors, sown by the type of subtle cajoling of allies that predecessor Mike Pompeo apparently felt was beneath him. Blinken himself emphasized this at the summit, saying China’s retaliation made it “all the more important that we stand firm and stand together, or risk sending the message that bullying works.”
There was, to be fair, a kernel of truth to Trump’s antagonism toward China, a nation run by a single political party that is obsessed with surveillance and hostile toward even the most basic human rights, both at home and abroad. But as a believer in the “great man” theory of history, in which a country’s greatness is only achieved by its most talented individuals, Trump showed little interest in building multilateral support for his generally hawkish but often incoherent stance against China.
Biden by contrast has never pretended to be a transformational figure. Rather, he has shown a willingness to acknowledge his limits, and the contributions of others in his successes. Others, such as Biden’s 2020 primary foes, have mistaken this humility for weakness, and Beijing’s nationalist hardliners could be lured into a similar checkmate.
— Tribune News Service
