The senior US official for Asia said the era of agreements with China “is over.”

The United States is entering a period of intense competition with China as the Asian country is increasingly controlled by President Xi Jinping., He said Kurt campbell, senior White House official for Asia.

“The period that was roughly described as one of the chords is over”Campbell, the U.S. coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs at the National Security Council, said Wednesday at an event hosted by Stanford University, according to Bloomberg. US policy towards China will now operate under a “new set of strategic parameters.”said the official, while adding that “The dominant paradigm will be competition”.

Xi Jinping’s Chinese policies are largely responsible for the change in US policyCampbell said, citing military clashes on China’s border with India, an “economic campaign” against Australia and the rise of “wolf warrior” diplomacy. Beijing’s behavior was emblematic of a shift to “ hard power ”, which “ signals that China is determined to play a more assertive role ”, He said.

These comments were one of the many signs of new tensions between the two countries, even when the United States trade representative, Katherine tai, and the Chinese Vice Premier, Liu He, they had their first phone conversation. Before the talks, Tai told the news agency Reuters What both sides faced “very big challenges” and the American president, Joe bidenannounced that he had ordered the U.S. intelligence community to “Redouble” efforts to determine if coronavirus escaped from Chinese lab.

Biden said in a statement Wednesday that Chinese officials must be more transparent and that Beijing must join an “international evidence-based investigation and provide access to all relevant data and evidence.”. Chinese embassy in Washington called investigation a “smear campaign and blame-sharing” it would hurt efforts to prevent future health crises, according to Bloomberg.

The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, said at a press conference Thursday in Beijing that the two countries “They win with cooperation and lose with confrontation”.

“Sino-US relations will naturally experience some competition, which is frequent in the relations of other important countries, but it is a mistake to define the relation with competition, because it will only lead to confrontation and conflict, ”he said.

The two countries also have disputes over the Beijing’s claims on the South China Sea, human rights in the Xinjiang region, the future of Taiwan and Hong Kong, and economic concerns, including the deployment of 5G technology and global shortages of semiconductors. Chinese and US officials have said they see areas for cooperation, especially on climate change, but on many other issues the relationship is much colder.

“The idea of ​​engagement of the United States has conditions and consists in integrating China into its system, not only economically but also politically”, insured Wang yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University and a former Chinese diplomat. “The United States sees that China is overtaking its own economy, so it seeks to contain it and prevent it from moving up the value chain.”he added, quoted by Bloomberg.

Campbell understands what it’s like to negotiate with Chinese diplomats. Last March, he was one of the US officials who met his Chinese counterparts in Alaska, in conversations that started off on a rough patch, with disputes in front of reporters and cameras. human rights, trade and international alliances.

Campbell said Xi Jinping was at the center of America’s new approach to relations with China. He described the Chinese president as “Deeply ideological, but also not very sentimental” and “not very interested in the economy”.

Since coming to power in 2012, the president has “Almost completely dismantled almost 40 years of mechanisms designed for collective leadership”Campbell said, adding that senior Chinese diplomats, such as the Politburo member, Yang jiechi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang yiThey are not “even close” to the inner circle of the Asian leader.

The Allies will play a vital role in America’s efforts to deal with China in the years to come.Campbell said. The Americans have already tried to increase the importance of their work within the so-called Quad Group of Nations., which includes India, Japan and Australia. And Biden’s first White House meetings with foreign heads of state were with the Japanese. South Korean Yoshihide Suga and Moon Jae-in.

“We believe the best way to face a more assertive China is to work with allies, partners and friends.”Campbell said, while adding that “The best policy towards China is really a good policy towards Asia”. Still, he said the United States will need to allay fears of American decline in Asia and offer a “positive economic outlook” for the region.

“For the first time, really, we are shifting our strategic direction, our economic interests, our military might more to the Indo-Pacific.”Campbell is done.

(With information from Bloomberg)

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