Biden-Harris ticket and US China policy

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and vice president candidates and Senator Kamala Harris. Picture: David J Phillip/AP

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and vice president candidates and Senator Kamala Harris. Picture: David J Phillip/AP

Published Aug 20, 2020

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By David Monyae

The first joint appearance of Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee alongside Joe Biden sent clear signals that President Donald Trump’s days in the White House are numbered.

It is also important to note the significance of Harris’s appointment to this position as the first woman with African and Indian heritage. However, lessons learnt from the Obama presidency are that one’s background carries little influence in the making of foreign policy.

What would be Biden-Harris foreign policy towards the rest of the world? What is Biden’s China policy and how could it affect Africa?

The US and China are important players in Africa, hence their relations on global issues such as trade, climate change, peace and security significantly impact Africa.

Biden’s immediate task as a president would be handling three most important issues domestically, namely: the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy and race relations.

However, there is likely to be change and continuity in Washington's China policy. Biden’s engagements with China would be shredding Trump’s allegation that Biden is "soft on China". As someone who served on the Senate foreign relations committee as well as vice-president under Obama, Biden is more familiar with China and Africa.

During the Democratic presidential primaries, Biden and Harris were critical of China. Biden labelled President Xi Jinping a "thug". He also referred to China as eating "our lunch".

Once settled in the White House, Biden would probably abandon Trump’s all-out antagonistic approach towards China.

Among Biden’s advisory team are Susan Rice, Samantha Power and Anne-Marie Slaughter, whose views of foreign policy favour multilateralism instead of unilateralism.

It is unlikely that Washington’s relations with Beijing could go back to the glory years of Clinton, Bush and Obama. The team would rekindle America’s relationship with its Western partners in resuscitating a liberal international order.

Henceforth, Washington under Biden-Harris would probably return to the Paris Agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran and numerous UN agencies, especially the World Health Organization. To succeed, Biden will require China’s co-operation and support.

There will be continued heightened tension with China in the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and in the competition for dominance in the roll-out of 5G and other technologies.

Although tension with China will continue, Washington won’t behave as a lone ranger, as demonstrated by Trump’s disastrous years in the White House. The co-operation between Washington and Beijing within multilateral forums bodes well for Africa. As the least-developed continent, Africa’s development largely depends on a peaceful global order.

The pandemic and climate issues are demanding the attention of the world’s biggest economies.

To achieve Agenda 2063, Africa will need co-operation and support from the US and China. This should be Africa’s expectation from the incoming Biden-Harris administration.

* Monyae is the director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL.

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