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Opinion | How Joe Biden’s America and China can turn the page on a rocky relationship
- From visas to tech bans, Biden should undo Trump’s needlessly confrontational damage – on condition that China takes equivalent steps back
- The deep causes of US-China friction will remain but an easing of tension will give both governments space to re-engage
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US-China relations are at their worst since the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. There is plenty of blame to go around. In China, the centralisation of power under President Xi Jinping and the controversies over human rights in Xinjiang and democracy in Hong Kong have contributed to increasingly negative perceptions of China around the world.
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In the United States, even before President Donald Trump took office, the consensus in Washington was moving towards scepticism of Chinese power in the world. But the Trump administration took needlessly confrontational positions that have set back American interests.
A reversal of these policies on January 20 would immediately benefit Americans and improve the tone of the bilateral relationship. There are many areas – in education, diplomacy, trade, technology and public health – in which small, positive steps can make a difference. If the new administration takes constructive action, the Chinese government might well reciprocate.
First, all US executive orders in the lame duck period should be repealed. The departing Trump administration enacted them with a view to constraining the new administration’s options on China. Joe Biden’s administration should immediately begin consulting Congress to determine which of these, if any, should be reissued or proposed as legislation.
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US Congress certifies results of presidential election after Trump supporters storm the Capitol
US Congress certifies results of presidential election after Trump supporters storm the Capitol
Second, education. The Trump administration tightened F-1 student visas and H1B visas for skilled workers under the xenophobic pretext of keeping out Chinese spies.
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