Tougher, like Trump’s, but different in key ways.
Almost certainly, China’s growing aggressiveness is the most difficult foreign policy challenge that President Biden will have to contend with. Under Trump, the U.S. adopted a tougher stance toward China, but clumsily; this likely will continue under Biden, but with more finesse, and more effectiveness assuming Biden re-engages with U.S. allies, because it will take a united front by the western democracies to keep Chinese hegemonistic ambitions in check.
While Biden administration policymakers will try to cooperate with China in some areas, such as climate change, and China has expressed interest in greater cooperation following the Trump years, his nominees for key foreign policy and intelligence positions have been of a single mind in their Senate confirmation hearings in acknowledging that China is in many respects an adversary. These include its more aggressive military posture, Hong Kong democracy crackdown, and industrial espionage. In the economic sphere, Janet Yellen, the incoming Treasury Secretary, has described China as a “strategic competitor” (see Barrons magazine article here).
Probably the biggest and most important piece of Biden’s approach to China will be his efforts to build a “grand alliance” of nations, as suggested by a Wall Street Journal paywall-protected article here.* This would stand in contrast with Trump’s “America First” approach — a throwback to 1930s isolationism — that spurned our allies.
The Diplomat, a Washington D.C.-based international news magazine with an Indo-Asia focus from an Australian perspective, argues (here) that the goal should be containment, because “winning decisively isn’t possible” for either side.
For a 6-minute briefing, watch the ABC News video below.
* If you have a King County (Washington) Library card, you may be able to access the full article by logging in, going to “Online Library/Databases/Wall Street Journal,” and searching by date (1/6/21) or title (from foregoing link).