Biden: There will be ‘extreme competition’ with China under my administration

The U.S. and China will experience “extreme competition” on the global economic stage, but will not be drawn into direct conflict with one another, President Biden said on Sunday.

In an interview that aired on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” the president told anchor Norah O’Donnell that there was no reason for the U.S. and China to be drawn into war, but that the two superpowers would likely collide economically for years to come.

“The question is, I’ve said to [China’s President Xi Jinping] all along, that we need not have a conflict,” Biden told CBS.

“But there’s gonna be extreme competition. And I’m not going to do it the way that he knows,” the president continued, seemingly referring to the approach taken towards China by the Trump administration, which tried for years to reach a major trade agreement with China in efforts that ultimately sputtered out.

“We’re gonna focus on international rules of the road,” Biden continued.

The president’s remarks are some of his first regarding China policy since taking office. He most recently made comprehensive remarks about U.S.-China policy in December when he blasted the Trump administration’s approach as “backwards” and vowed to make it “real clear to China there are international rules that if you want to play by, we’ll play with you. If you don’t, we’re not going to play.”

“It’s not about punishing them for COVID virus; it’s about insisting that there be international norms that are established that they play by,” Biden said at the time.

China’s government moved on Inauguration Day last month to sanction dozens of Trump administration officials, a move that was condemned by the Biden White House but not met with reciprocal action.