This past Thursday, diplomats from China and the United States had a meeting in Alaska to discuss the Biden Administration and the future between the two countries. The meeting, as reported by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was to discuss U.S concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, and the economic coercion of allies. China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi responded with a 15 minutes speech, saying that the U.S had no right to be speaking from a position of power when it cannot handle its own international and domestic problems. This back and forth went on in front of the media for over an hour, resulting in a benefit for neither party.
This meeting was a rarity for the United States and China, as the media is typically escorted out after the 10 minutes of introduction, however the representatives from both sides had a lot to say. Both sides of the meeting seemed to criticize the other’s actions in international but also domestic affairs. Yang criticized the treatment of minorities in the United States, where Blinken brought up the Muslim Internment Camps in China. Both sides were so focused on criticizing the other’s domestic issues, that they never seemed to get around to the real issue: the international issues between themselves.
The tensions between the United States and China have been high since China rose to power and became a threat to the United States’ position as hegemon. Under the Trump administration, the approach to handling China was very hands on, “America First”. President Biden’s approach is through U.S allies nearing China, such as Korea and Japan. These approaches represent two different types of Grand Strategy. Trump’s approach to handling China was an example of liberal hegemony, whereas Biden’s approach more accurately represents Offshore Balancing.