Coming off the tail end of rough relations between China and the US, the world’s top two economies, Biden and Xi look to restart dialogue between the nations and reduce tensions. The Trump Administration marked tariffs against China and a brutal trade war, hoping to suppress their rapid economic growth at the expense of US companies.
However, on Monday night, long discussions began to address the conflicts between the two nations. Although much of the talk is expected to surround trade and the economy, Biden aims to address human rights and the topic of Taiwan to Xi. With China’s strict “one-China policy”, they’ve threatened the Taiwanese military to seize control at any time through force in order to reunite the Taiwanese population with the ideals of the mainland. The topic of Taiwan is extremely complex, as the area currently has their own government system and is pushing to be considered a completely separate country from China. Although Biden has expressed discontent in Beijing’s handling of Taiwan, which he received backlash for, the US is known to support China’s one-nation policy.
In my opinion, I understand where the US is coming from, as maintaining diplomatic relations with China can be important and helpful to avoid military conflict. However, China has no issue in playing dirty and is willing to compromise democratic ideals as well the human rights of their own people in order to get ahead. Pushing economic incentives aside, I believe Biden could take a slightly harsher approach against China’s handling of Taiwan, as it clearly violates the democratic ideals that the US stands for. We are willing to reprimand other third-world nations who fail to adhere to democracy, so it’s only fair that we hold more powerful nations like China accountable as well. With that being said, I agree with the US’ sending of troops group to Taiwan and in August they even approved of their first arms sale to Taiwan. I think a lot more is to come surrounding the issue. Biden’s strategic ambiguity and patience surrounding China’s handling of Taiwan could serve to severely help or hurt us in the long run.
Questions:
Do you think the US should have a harsher approach against China’s policy towards Taiwan and human rights as a whole?
Should Biden prioritize diplomatic relations with Xi or enact tariffs against China, given the number of US businesses that are hurt by the lack of tariffs against them?
What do you expect the future of Taiwan to look like? Will they be able to maintain a semblance of sovereignty? How can they work towards achieving this?
Do you expect China to utilize violence in an attempt to bring Taiwan back under their full control?
Sources:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-xi-teams-set-modest-hopes-for-monday-talks-11636970400?mod=hp_lead_pos1
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/11/15/world/biden-xi-summit
12 comments:
I believe that the U.S. as well as other democratic countries should put more pressure on Chinese policy in Taiwan and human rights. Although the idea of trying to control or enforce behavior in another country sounds intrusive, I can't think of another way to efficiently ensure that Taiwanese and Chinese citizens aren't having their human rights compromised. Additionally, it could be beneficial to make it clear to China that their corrupt behavior isn't going to be tolerated in order to discourage further conflicts or violations down the road.
In terms of the tariffs, I think passing tariffs on China will negatively affect diplomatic relations which is why negotiating with Xi or another Chinese representative who represents China's economic interests is crucial. If both sides can come to some sort of compromise it would be much less hostile than suddenly passing a bunch of tariffs without warning. This way, it can satisfy the need for both improvement in diplomatic relations and businesses' financial prosperity.
I think China is on track for attempting a to seize Taiwan. In a previous article, it was mentioned that China was doing military testing off Taiwanese shores. This sort of behavior and demonstration of military strength foreshadows conflict and seems like China is testing the waters to see how much they can get away with.
I do think creating tariffs on China is more advantageous than not because when American businesses are able to sell more at a higher price, they're able to pay their employers. Larger companies are able to outsource and create more efficient procedures, leaving their products to be cheaper, so the tariffs are mainly helping small businesses and their employees. As you mentioned, however, it will negatively affect diplomatic relations with China. Because the US has troops in Taiwan, I incredibly doubt that China will attack them, so even with strained relations, the net negatives are relatively not that negative. Overall, I agree with you that the US should be dedicated to preserving democracy and their ideals abroad as well, and it is downright hypocritical to not hold China to the same standards. The China-US bond is not that fragile - the US can still protect both its small businesses through tariffs and the Taiwanese people's liberty while not completely severing ties with China.
While I think it is important to keep peace, I believe that the US should not back down from China. Currently, China is slowly escalating tensions between Taiwan and even in the arms race. China just tested a new hypersonic missile which has the capability to launch a nuclear missile going into space and coming back into the atmosphere around mach 5. This missile can be deployed and hit its target in less than 10 minutes. This has already harshened tensions between the US and China but this is very different with an obvious sign of escalating the arms race. The US and the rest of the world need to have a stronger approach to China or they may pass the US in nuclear capacity which could alter who has more control. I expect China to use these recent events in favor of themselves by becoming bolder and the US should not back down.
I agree with what Edan said about China being on track for attempting to seize Taiwan utilizing violence. I want to add that in a recent article posted today by U.S. news and world report. According to the newly released annual report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Chinese military has now or will soon have the ability to invade Taiwan with over 25,000 military troops at the ready. The report also documents that the Chinese military has trained with barges, ferries and other civilian vessels to transport military troops across the Taiwan Straits or elsewhere – in addition to more conventional military transports. Justifying China utilizing their military to use for violence in an attempt to take back Taiwan. The article also informs that a U.S. government agency documenting failed attempts by China and the U.S. to better understand one another's intentions for Taiwan and in China's policies. Even with the U.S. sending military troops to support Taiwan, China's actions are purely expressing what they really desire. China is foreshadowing using their military strength possibly creating minacious acts if not already perceived upon the new released information.
URL for article: https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2021-11-17/chinese-military-at-or-near-ability-to-invade-taiwan-us-agency-concludes
In response to Maya's comment, I think one thing that's important to note is the effect on American consumers from these tariffs because American consumers end up paying more when these tariffs are imposed. The true advantage of imposing tariffs is that we reduce our reliance on Chinese imports and make imports from other countries more cost-competitive for the same goods. Given the macropolitical issues between the US and China and the ever-increasing threat of war due to the Taiwan situation, it is in our benefit to diversify our imports and reduce our reliance on China and therefore these tariffs are beneficial in the end of the day. With COVID, I think this challenge has been exaggerated due to the backlog of imports from Asia and the COVID protocols that are currently in place. Due to this, our holidays are going to be empty and small businesses are actually being hit even harder because their shipping prices have gone up and they've been forced to let go of employees because they cannot reach their profit margins.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/business/supply-chain-holidays.html
I think that the US must decrease their military operations in Taiwan, in favor of a more diplomatic approach as Chinese backlash is prone to happen with a strengthened Taiwanese and US relationship. In the past, China has strongly opposed planned arms sales and has lodged stern representations with the US. China’s Defense Ministry also condemned the sales, adding that the Chinese military had a “firm and unshakable” resolve to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In addition, the interoperability between the two hegemons has been low. China denied a US request for a US warship to visit Hong Kong and the US withdrew an invitation to the Chinese military to take part in Rimpac, the world’s largest naval exercise held in the Pacific every two years, over Beijing’s moves to militarise reefs and shoals in the disputed South China Sea. China has urged the US to withdraw sales and stop military contacts with Taiwan, to avoid serious harm to both Sino-US cooperation in major areas, and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
I do like how the US fights and stands for equality and human rights, but I think it would be smart to not meddle in other countries' business when we have many of our own internal problems to worry about first. I believe the most Biden can do right now is to build and strengthen a good relationship with Xi. This could result in great things and could put the US in a great position of authority and power. On the topic of whether China would use violence in order to take Taiwan or not, I fully believe that China will have no issue being as violent as possible when it comes to getting what they want. - mason ching
I believe that the US's top priority should be protecting human rights and preserving democracy, and in this situation, I think that tariffs are an appropriate first step. I agree with Maya that we should not worry about tariffs affecting our own economy, as they help small businesses and promote trade with other countries. Therefore, the main concern with the tariffs is the possible problems they would cause to the relationship between China and the US. In a New York Times article, I read about the recent US-China Summit, it is clear that not much was agreed upon, but nothing happened that would make the two countries "enemies." Therefore, I think that Biden needs to start making a real effort to help Taiwan, and can no longer just stay in the middle, whether through relations and negotiations with China or independently going to Taiwan. Although nobody wants a country as powerful as China as an enemy, I see no reason why the US should go out of its way to create extremely strong relations with China while it is violating one of our key values: human rights.
I think that in response to the situation in Taiwan, the US should exactly match the aggression China shows: no more, no less. Doing less would be to give the Chinese government "fuel for the fire" and give their propaganda machines and outlet to portray them as winning the Taiwan standoff, as well as lead to the US losing ground in this standoff. Letting China be aggressive and have greater autonomy to assert their power in Asia is a slippery slope and the US should remain on top of them. However, it is also important not to be too aggressive. If the US were to aggressively place the navy around Taiwan and give it a lot more military support China would escalate from their side as they do not want to appear weak in the international scene, as well as Xi Jinping would not want to appear weak to his party. An escalation like this would be bad because it would lead to greater tension between the 2 nations in the future and reduce future compromise, such as the current talks regarding climate change: China might have been more resistant to agree to reduce emissions if in tension with the US.
If the US matches the aggression of China, it will be able to curb any attempts at land-grabs and it will not be seen as weak and malleable while also maintaining regular relations without straining them excessively. In my opinion, China's main goal is to continue to expand their economy and build up the nation, so they do not really desire heightened tension with the US. The nation's booming economy is a big reason why the party is able to maintain their legitimacy to the population, by brokering a trade with the people: a lack of political rights in exchange for economic opportunity. While China pushes against Taiwan to increase its international power and influence, its ultimate goal is not conflict with the US. We need to keep China in check and prevent it from gaining too much power, and it will not push back too hard.
The relationship between China and the U.S. is very complex. Neither the US or China want to start a war, it would be devastating on both sides. With that being said, China has been increasing its power over its land and has been engaging in horrific human rights violations that can't be ignored. They already seized control of Hong Kong, breaking the agreement they had with the U.K. and it looks like Taiwan is next. This isn't a new issue either, in 1996 during the Clinton era, when discussing Taiwan, a Chinese official was quoted saying American leaders "care more about Los Angeles than they do about Taiwan," which was somewhat taken as an indirect quote. This is true though. We do care more about Los Angeles than Taiwan, and with China's new hypersonic missile they do have more capabilities to cause devastating attacks towards the U.S. While I do think we should not shy away from calling out China, I obviously do not think we should wage a war with China, but work more on diplomatic relations.
I believe that the US should back off of their military operations in Taiwan, in conjunction with a softer approach to diplomacy with China. Amanda's citation of recent Sino-American military interactions is convincing. Backlash is more likely to occur if military operations are sustained or increased; in order to avoid the possibility of war, the US should work on a more diplomatic approach. Both countries are world powers, and both are capable of doing serious harm to each other. The nuclear arsenals of both the US and China are developed and capable of doing harm.
China is a country with pride, and will not respond well if it views itself being "pushed around" by US sanctions or military threats. The international community should absolutely condemn the human rights violations that the Chinese government commits. As Anusha writes, the Taiwan situation is indeed complex, with Taiwan being the current seat of the Guomingtang (a rival political party of the CCP that was driven out by civil war). Democracy is obviously a value of the US, and China has a clear lack of it. China also has a serious lack of free speech. While many Chinese people are advocates of democracy as well, they are aggressively silenced by the current Chinese government.
I hope that an armed conflict between the US and China does not happen. However, the two governments share very different value systems, and are both vying for influence on the global stage. From certain angles, conflict seems inevitable, but I hope that the two countries are able to work issues out peacefully.
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