“Beijing is trying to convince the incoming Biden administration that the U.S.-China relationship can be smooth and positive,” writes Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, “but only if Washington dumps the Trump administration’s policies, ignores China’s worst behaviors and pretends everything is fine.”
It is more than a little scary because “pretending” is one of the political establishment’s greatest skill-sets. Plus, the columnist reminds that “calls for the Biden administration to reverse course are coming not only from China but also from . . . former secretary of state Henry Kissinger” and a “range of interest groups.”
But “yielding to China’s demands,” Rogin warns President-Elect Biden, “would be going against a majority of Americans in both parties and breaking Biden’s campaign promises to stand up to [Chinese leader] Xi.”
Consider “Beijing’s naked economic extortion of Australia,” argues Rogin. “If Biden intends to repair alliances, he should realize that allies like Australia want support for resistance to China’s bullying.”
So, what does China want?
“A Chinese official gave the Sydney Morning Herald a list of the conditions it expects in return for lifting harsh sanctions on Australia’s agricultural and mineral export industries,” Rogin explains. “. . . Australia must stop exposing Chinese Communist Party influence efforts on its soil; shut up about Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Uighurs; open its doors to Chinese tech companies; and quit calling for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Rogin notes “concern in Asia” about whether Mr. Biden will return to the Obama Administration’s weak stance on China, which “would allow serious problems to fester, raising the long-term risk of just the kind of serious conflict both countries would like to avoid.”
How “good” should our relations be with nations engaged in genocide, such as China?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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