The United States and China will face “extreme competition” on the global economic scene, but will not be in direct conflict with each other, President Biden said on Sunday.
In an interview that aired on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program, the president told anchor Norah O’Donnell that there was no reason for the US and China to be attracted to the war, but that the two superpowers would likely collide economically In the next years .
“The question is, I said to [China’s President Xi Jinping] all the time, that we don’t need to have a conflict, “Biden told CBS.
“But there will be extreme competition. And I will not do it the way he knows it,” continued the president, apparently referring to the approach taken towards China by the Trump administration, which for years tried to reach a major trade deal with China in efforts that ended up failing.
“We will focus on international traffic rules,” continued Biden.
The president’s comments are some of the first on China’s policy since taking office. More recently, he made comprehensive comments about US-China policy in December, when he criticized the Trump administration’s approach as “backward” and promised to make it “very clear to China that there are international rules that if you want to follow, we will play with you. If don’t, we won’t play. ”
“This is not about punishing them for the COVID virus; it’s about insisting that there be international standards set for them to follow, ”said Biden at the time.
The government of China took action on the inauguration day last month to sanction dozens of Trump administration officials, a move that was condemned by the Biden White House, but did not result in reciprocal action.