[News] United States vs China: Can the relationship between Beijing and Washington recover after four years of Donald Trump?

[WilkerCSBD]

There is a kind of joke heard in some circles in Washington that when China talks about "win-win cooperation (win-win)," it means Beijing wins twice as much.

It is a saying that sometimes arises when talking about relations with the Asian country, but it serves to reflect the mistrust that exists between both powers.

Ties between the United States and China have deteriorated in recent years to a level not seen in decades, and now that the Biden era begins, a question becomes inevitable on both sides of the Pacific: can the situation improve?

Last week, both governments released some messages in this regard.

President Xi Jinping warned at the Davos Forum against a "new cold war" and called for "abandoning ideological prejudices and pursuing a path of peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit and cooperation so that everyone wins."

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Meanwhile, the new White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, pointed out that "they will start from an approach of patience" to respond to the "abuses" of the Asian country.

"That means we are going to consult with our allies, with Democrats and Republicans, and we are going to allow the interagency process to develop to review and evaluate how we should move forward with our relationship," Psaki said.

Experts from both countries warn that Trump's departure will not mean a substantial improvement in the relationship, but that does not mean that changes will not take place.

"We have to bear in mind that both China and the United States want to protect and advance their own interests. Neither has the exclusive objective of recovering the relationship," Bonnie Glaser, a veteran American researcher, included in the list of "Los 10 Names That Matter In China Politics "From Politico Magazine.

Structural problems
And it is that Biden comes into play at a time of apparent no return for the complex relationship, with an increasingly assertive China in the international arena and a greater consensus in the United States on the threat it poses.

"The new era in China-US relations will continue at least as long as the People's Republic of China remains in the Xi era," wrote Chinese affairs analyst Bill Bishop on his Sinocism blog prior to Biden's inauguration.

"Xi and his officials see time and trends on their side, and they say it even more openly with habitual statements of ideas such as: 'The East is rising and the West is declining.' It's almost as if they believe the historical outcome is already determined ".
 

The new administration in Washington seems to be aware of this and appreciates the position taken by Trump these years.

"President Trump was right to take a firmer attitude toward China," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at his Senate confirmation hearing.

"I strongly disagree on how he did it in various areas, but the basis was correct, and, in fact, I think it is useful for our foreign policy."

Blinken himself even agreed with his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, in calling the Chinese repression in the Xinjiang region "genocide", where investigations such as that of the BBC revealed the large scale of the hidden camps where Beijing holds citizens of the Uighur Muslim minority.