“It’s not just military power. It is economic power. Diplomatic power. It is soft and cultural power. That scares these opponents,” said Mr. O’Brien
United States policy on China has generally not changed from the administration of former President Donald Trump to that of President Joe Biden. Both have considered China as America’s biggest competitor. But as Voice of America correspondent Elizabeth Lee reports, the two current candidates, Harris and Trump, have somewhat different approaches to relations with China. Although they clash on a series of issues, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump agree on one issue: the threat from China. Robert O’Brien served as national security adviser during former President Trump’s administration. “I think the danger we have from China is much more serious than from the Soviet Union during the Cold War,” says Mr. O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien says the United States must confront China with a show of strength.
“It’s not just military power. It is economic power. Diplomatic power. It is soft and cultural power. That scares these opponents,” said Mr. O’Brien. Economically, the administrations of former President Trump and that of President Biden have used tariffs to counter Chinese practices of oversaturating the market with cheap products.
“China will take all your business because of the electric cars and materials they have. We don’t have them,” said former President Trump. It proposes imposing tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese imports. Vice President Harris also talks about the US-China rivalry. “I will make sure to lead the world into a future for space and artificial intelligence. For America to win the race, not China,” said Vice President Harris. “She has supported some of the trade restrictions of the Biden administration. But it is not very much in favor of tariffs”, says Jeremi Suri, from the University of Texas. Analysts say former President Trump sees the issue as more practical. “It will probably be my first phone call with President Xi. I will tell him that he must implement the agreement they agreed to, to buy $50 billion of American farm products. And I guarantee you that he will buy them,” said former President Trump.
In the field of foreign policy, Mr. O’Brien says it is important to build alliances with countries that have similar perceptions. “There was once a time when America could go it alone. We can’t do it alone anymore,” said Mr. O’Brien.
One expert says former President Trump has broken away from traditional Republican foreign policy to create strong alliances. “Trump is not at all about alliances and rather asks the question, what do we gain?” says Richard Murray, University of Houston. As electoral rhetoric about Chinese competition and security risks mounts, some Americans fear the fallout could be felt by Asian-Americans and Chinese living in the United States, says Steven Pei, who immigrated from Taiwan and now works as a professor. university in the United States. “They think that the whole American society is facing a danger from China. So we need a reaction from the whole society to deal with this danger coming from factories, students, researchers from China. Will they include me too, since people can’t tell if I’m from Taiwan or China or Korea?”, says Mr. Pei.
With former President Trump’s harsh rhetoric, some Asian-Americans worry about growing anti-Chinese sentiment should he be elected president. But Asian-American Republicans say they hope that, being an entrepreneur, he can strike deals with China that benefit all Americans.
