The New cold War

Biden Vows to Stop China From Becoming the World’s ‘Leading’ Country

In his first press conference, Biden said Chinese President Xi Jinping doesn’t have a ‘democratic bone in his body’

By Dave DeCamp
 Posted on

President Biden vowed that he would not allow China to become the world’s
“leading” country during his first press conference on Thursday. His comments come as US-China tensions are soaring, and the two countries’ relationship is at its lowest point in decades.

“I see stiff competition with China,” Biden said. “China has an overall goal … to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world. That’s not going to happen on my watch, because United States is going to continue to grow and expand.”

President Biden spoke of his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who Biden got to know while both leaders were serving as vice presidents. “I spent hours upon hours with him alone with an interpreter,” Biden said. “He is very, very straightforward. Doesn’t have a democratic — with a small ‘D’ — bone in his body.”

Using Cold War-style language, Biden framed the situation on the world stage as a battle between democracy and autocracy, and compared Xi to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He’s one of the guys, like Putin, who thinks that autocracy is the wave of the future and democracy can’t function in an ever — an ever-complex world,” he said.

“I predict to you, your children or grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on the issue of who succeeded: autocracy or democracy? Because that is what is at stake, not just with China,” Biden told reporters.

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While he’s taking a similar approach to China as President Trump, the Biden administration has been able to rally its European allies to take action against China. On Monday, the US, EU, UK, and Canada all announced sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the US’s European and NATO Allies to unite against Beijing in Brussels on Wednesday. The common talking point coming for US officials is that China threatens the US-led “rules-based order,” which means Washington sees Beijing as a threat to US global hegemony, something Biden made clear at his press conference.

Published atnews.antiwar.com

Democracy has seen 500,000 US Covid deaths: China hits back as Biden says Xi Jinping ‘doesn’t have a democratic bone in his body’

26 Mar, 2021

The Chinese foreign ministry has issued a stern rebuke of US President Joe Biden’s criticism of Beijing’s supposed lack of democratic values, claiming a label of democracy is not as important as looking after a country’s people.

Speaking on Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying addressed comments made by the US president in his first solo press conference on Thursday, in which Biden claimed Chinese leader Xi Jinping “doesn’t have a democratic bone in his body.”

Hua said that the issues of democracy and centralization were not important as long as the state can “bring political stability, social progress, and improve people’s livelihood.” The spokeswoman stated that Beijing “pursues a people-centered philosophy” which is in stark contrast “to the US electoral politics centered on partisan political interests.”

Turning to the US’ internal challenges, the spokeswoman highlighted flaws in American democracy, claiming that it was not working in the best interest of its people despite its perceived wealth and power.

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No matter how much a country boasts of its democratic values, it sat by and watched more than 500,000 people die from the epidemic without doing anything, and more than 40,000 people killed by gun violence each year without doing anything.

Speaking on Thursday, President Biden admitted the challenge that China poses to US hegemony and made a number of comments about the Chinese leader. “He doesn’t have a democratic – with a small ‘d’ – bone in his body, but he’s a smart, smart guy,” Biden said about Xi Jinping.

The president also stated that he would ensure the US isn’t overtaken by China as the world’s number one power. “They have an overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world and the most powerful country in the world. That’s not going to happen on my watch.”

China’s relations with the US have shown few signs of improving since the Biden Administration came to office. In recent weeks, the US and its allies have blasted Beijing for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang province. Beijing denies any wrongdoing.

Published atwww.rt.com