China’s Xi advice for new US administration

 Chinese President Xi Jinping has implicitly warned US President Joe Biden that he would risk a “new Cold War” if he followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, Donald Trump, calling for multilateralism instead.

Xi did not name Biden or the US in his first speech since Trump’s term ended last week but made it clear that Beijing would not be dictated to by Washington.

“To build small circles or start a new Cold War, to reject, threaten or intimidate others, to willfully impose decoupling [from China], supply disruption or sanctions, and to create isolation or estrangement will only push the world into division and even confrontation,” Xi said in an address to the World Economic Forum, which is normally held in Switzerland’s Davos but is taking place virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday.

“We should build an open world economy, uphold the multilateral trading regime, discard discriminatory and exclusionary standards, rules and systems, and take down barriers to trade, investment, and technological exchanges,” Xi said.

Under Trump, the United States’ relations with China grew increasingly tense. Washington clashed with Beijing over trade, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the coronavirus pandemic. Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo even openly called for regime change in China.

Trump also spoke of a total decoupling between the United States and China. 

Biden, a Democrat, has not signaled that he intends to soften Republican Trump’s tough position toward China, but he may scale down a trade war that the former US president launched with Beijing.

“State-to-state relations should be coordinated and regulated through proper institutions and rules. The strong should not bully the weak. Decisions should not be made by simply showing off strong muscles or waving a big fist,” the Chinese president said.

The US has been routinely deploying military vessels to waters in the East and South China Seas that are claimed by China, citing a right to “freedom of navigation.” Former US president Barack Obama — in whose administration Biden was vice president — was also planning a strategic “pivot to Asia” in an apparent attempt to scale up the rivalry with Beijing.

President Xi also urged a multilateral approach to solving the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.

“No global problem can be solved by any one country alone. There must be global action, global response and global cooperation,” the Chinese president said.