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Abstract

As the US transitions to a Biden Presidency, there is inevitable anxiety among countries, institutions, and people at the receiving end of China's unilateral assertions based on its accrued economic, technological, and military strength. For decades, especially since 1979, US policy was "engagement" with China in the belief and advocacy that this would lead to political and economic liberalization. The Deng-articulated policy of "hide and bide" did not challenge this assumption directly. The Obama-Biden administration, from 2009- 2016, struggled to find the right approach, moving from "strategic reassurance" to "pivot" and then "rebalance" to Asia. But it shied away from effectively preventing Chinese militarization of features in the South China Sea, and did not support Japanese and Philippines claims on Scarborough and Senkaku. The Trump Administration also initially vacillated, but since its National Security Strategy of December 2017, defined China as a rival, and ratcheted up tariff, technology denial, and other restrictions.

Would a Biden Administration build further on the Trump-era characterization of China as rival, predator, authoritarian; or would it be conditioned more by the search for common ground on climate change, arms control, and global economic revitalization? How is China viewing the change in Washington? Does Beijing expect an easing of the tensions that marked relations with the Trump administration, or is it bracing for the prospect of a more effective American response predicated on a more coherent strategy involving US allies and partners? What impact will the changing US-China dynamic have on India-China relations, at a time when numerous voices in China are situating recent tensions with India against the backdrop of a closer India-U.S. relationship?

About the Speaker

Amb. Arun Singh has extensive experience across the globe, including as India's Ambassador to the United States, Israel, and France. He was also involved the formulation and implementation of India's policies related to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, including in the period following 9/11.He is currently a Halle Institute Distinguished Fellow at Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia, US); Visiting Professor at Ashoka University (India); and a Distinguished Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Asia Program at the Washington DC based German Marshall Fund of the US. In the spring of 2017, Ambassador Singh has taught courses on US Foreign Policy in South Asia and Current Global Trends and Challenges at the American University and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC. He was also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Center for Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania. Ambassador Singh holds a Masters Degree in Economics from Delhi University, where he specialized in econometrics, development policy, macroeconomics, and Indian economic history.

Ananth Krishnan is the China correspondent for The Hindu. In 2019, he was a Visiting Fellow at Brookings India. He was previously the Beijing-based Associate Editor at the India Today Group until August 2018. He has lived in Beijing since 2009, earlier reporting for The Hindu. His reporting in China has taken him to all but three of China's 33 provinces and regions. His interests include India-China relations as well as Tibet, Xinjiang and ethnic minorities in China. Before moving to China, Ananth was based at The Hindu's headquarters in Chennai.