President Joe Biden finds himself on the third leg of his Asian journey, which encompassed visits to India for the G20 summit and Vietnam, where he endeavored to fortify bilateral relations.
Three days into his prominent tour of India and Vietnam, President Joe Biden emphatically articulated that his presence and endeavors to fortify relationships with China’s proximate nations were not intended as an endeavor to “constrict” Beijing.
And he repeated this sentiment repeatedly.
“I abstain from confining China,” he emphasized during a press briefing in Hanoi, shortly after enhancing the U.S.-Vietnam association and engaging with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Our objective, under my stewardship, is not to detriment China.” President Biden asserted that the United States, during his tenure, aims to “rectify the association” between the world’s two preeminent powers.
The Biden administration has previously stated its non-ambition to impede China’s ascension, even when implementing stringent export controls on vital technologies pivotal to its military advancement and taking steps to draw closer to other Asian nations.
However, these statements, within this context, signal more resolutely than ever before that the administration harbors no desire to incite a new Cold War with Beijing.
President Biden arrived in India on Friday for the G20 summit, before journeying to Vietnam on Sunday morning for the formal enhancement of bilateral relations.
While U.S. officials openly underscored that this sojourn through Asia aimed to rally allies for collaborative action on climate change and the shifting global economy, they privately alluded to the potential bolstering of America’s regional standing through improved relations with New Delhi and Hanoi.
Nevertheless, President Biden disavowed any intention of augmenting America’s regional influence at China’s expense during his presence, half a world away from Washington.
“This is not about the constriction of China,” he reiterated. “It pertains to the establishment of a steadfast foundation in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“We ought to extricate ourselves from Cold War paradigms,” President Biden advised reporters who inundated him with queries regarding the state of U.S.-China relations. “My intentions regarding the rectification of this association are genuine.”
The president contended that the way to achieve this objective is by ensuring that China adheres to “the protocols of the game,” specifically, the principles underpinning the rules-based international order, which the United States played a pivotal role in shaping from the ashes of World War II.
“I merely aim to guarantee the existence of an association with China that is candid, well-structured, and comprehensible to all parties,” President Biden concluded.
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