The United States needs to adopt a multilateral approach in dealing with China, according to a former U.S. ambassador.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have worsened over the last few years due to a trade war between the two countries, U.S. sanctions against Chinese companies and increased American support for Taiwan as well as India. President Donald Trump and his administration have blamed China for its unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and more recently, the coronavirus pandemic.
“A multilateral approach is the only way to be successful and to really get China to take these issues seriously,” Gary Locke, a former U.S. ambassador to China during the Obama administration, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Wednesday morning.
“Because if the rest of the world is not involved and it’s only involving the United States, then the United States will lose. Our consumers and our companies will lose,” Locke said.
On the trade front, Biden could come up with a unified position and strategy against China that would involve other U.S. allies with similar complaints toward Beijing as Washington does, according to Locke. Currently, those countries are sitting on the sidelines in the trade fight between the U.S. and China and are actually benefiting from those tensions, he said, adding that Trump’s approach has hurt American consumers and businesses.
To be clear, the U.S. and China signed a phase one trade deal this year to rein in the more than 18-month trade war.
Biden has previously said he would work more closely with American allies in order to mount a pushback against China.
Reference: CNBC
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