Biden’s team talks tough on China as early signs show policies won’t differ sharply from Trump’s

U.S. President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump may disagree about many things, but China isn’t one of them. Biden’s team has shown early signs that it agrees with the previous administration on several “extremely touchy” issues concerning China, an American public policy expert said on Thursday. The “early signals” show that the Biden administration “may change the tone and tenor of the conversation with Beijing — but they’re not really gonna change the policy,” said Lanhee Chen, director of domestic policy studies and lecturer at Stanford University.

He pointed out that Antony Blinken, Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, said during his confirmation hearing this week that he agreed with the previous administration’s assessment that China committed genocide against the minority Uighur Muslims. Blinken also “made clear that the U.S. will not be abandoning Taiwan anytime soon,” said Chen, who’s also a research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.

Washington has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan — which China claims as a runaway province that must eventually be reunited with the mainland. Still, the U.S. is Taiwan’s most powerful international backer and largest arms supplier. “These are two issues that for Beijing are extremely touchy,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” In addition to Blinken, Avril Haines — who’s been confirmed as director of national intelligence — also said during her confirmation hearing that the U.S. needs to counter China’s growing aggression.

Biden’s team talks tough on China as early signs show policies won’t differ sharply from Trump’s, CNBC, Jan 22