President Trump has been criticizing and opposing China, like of which no other US President has done earlier. On the other hand, most earlier U S Presidents have considered the relationship with China as one of mutual benefits and have ignored the negative impact of China’s emerging role on the US in the short and long term.
by N.S.Venkataraman
U S Presidential election has always received worldwide attention, as it is interesting and often funny , with rival candidates coining phrases to describe each other , which sometimes is laughable and on other occasions even abusive. However, everyone thinks that the result of the U S Presidential election will not bring about any unpredictable changes in the policy measures of the U S government and it’s approach in dealing with other countries. Therefore, everyone generally looks at the U S election process as some sort of free and noisy entertainment in the world stage.
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On most occasions, the incumbent U S Presidents have got re- elected for the second term , as it is often seen that there is not much of a difference between the rival candidates. After the completion of the second term, inevitably a new face would become the next U S President , with no discernible change in the policies of the U S government.
Outside the USA, the pledged haters of the USA would continue to criticise the USA and the pledged admirers would continue to praise, with the U S citizens just considering the election as a routine exercise with little expectations from the new President.
However, the consequence of the result of the 2020 election promises to be somewhat different from the earlier ones.
Here is the incumbent President, aged 74 contesting against a rival aspiring to become the U S President, who is 77 year old.
Amongst many countries,one country ,highly concerned about the result of the US election, is China , as it appears to think that a different US President would serve it’s interests better.
President Trump has been criticizing and opposing China , like of which no other US President has done earlier. On the other hand, most earlier U S Presidents have considered the relationship with China as one of mutual benefits and have ignored the negative impact of China’s emerging role on the U S in the short and long term.
A stage has come now when the U S government and people have realized that even for meeting it’s requirement of sanitisers and face masks , U S has to depend on other countries , particularly China. Everyone has realized that the manufacturing base of the USA has been steadily eroded in the last few years, benefiting China directly and indirectly. Several U S based companies have invested in China in a massive way instead of doing so in the USA, tempted by China’s proactive policies to attract US based companies. As a result, U S companies have liberally shared technology inputs with the Chinese enterprises, which have considerably strengthened the technology base of China, to such an extent as to challenge the USA.
While China has played it’s role cleverly and is trying to consolidate the benefits that it got due to it’s past cosy relationship with USA to achieve it’s ambition of global dominance, U S A has now realized , with huge concern , that China is advancing at it’s cost in a variety of ways.
The upper most priority for USA today is to restrict China’s march in the world scenario. Therefore, in the U S election, the anti China postures have become the main plank for the rival candidates. U S citizens have to decide, as to which candidate would be more anti China in the next four years.
In this anti China contest, it appears that President Trump holds a trump card, in spite of his critics and opponents decrying him on the various fronts.
In this war of attrition between the rivals, some people think that Biden has chosen a wrong horse as his Vice President nominee. Probably, Biden thought that his selection of nominee Kamala Harris would be a favourable factor for him, since she is a woman and a black. However, the past utterances and advocacies of Kamala Harris have been frequently conflicting and she has changed stance several times. Will she turn to be soft towards China in future is a point of debate.
Some analysts say that 77 year old Biden , if elected, would be 81 year old when he would complete his term and may not be able to seek reelection for the second term due to his age factor.
With Kamala Harris clearly seeing the opportunity to become the next President in case Biden would be elected and would end his first term , she would certainly assert herself and make her presence more visible for the public. Biden may not be able checkmate his Vice President effectively, who is known for adopting assertive posture and making vituperative remarks , perhaps just like Donald Trump.
China must be hoping that Biden and Kamala Harris would be the winning team , as it knows that it’s course of future action has to be decided by the action and determination of the next President and his capacity and desire to inflict wounds on China.
In case Biden would win, the world would keep it’s fingers crossed on what sort of influence and power that Kamala Harris would exercise over the U S government. Certainly, she would not be a “lame duck” Vice President that the USA has seen in the past.
It is possible that wooed by China’s ‘pleasant behavoir’ ,the voice of Harris on relation with China may become soft, just as she has changed her views and stance on several occasions in the past.
Will China be more happy with Biden - Harris team?
Trump has proved himself to be a sworn enemy of China and cannot go back on his stand any time soon , even though his critics term him as “unreliable and unpredictable”.
Certainly, China would hate Trump getting a second term.
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