Pavlich: Joe Biden’s China problem

When states across the country started implementing and enforcing stay-at-home orders in March, physical events on the 2020 presidential campaign trail came to a screeching halt.

For the Trump campaign the transition was easy with web rallies, video updates from the campaign and more digital outreach. But for former Vice President Joe Biden, who is behind on fundraising and voter enthusiasm, the new normal of irrelevancy became immediately apparent.

But while campaigning may never be the same this election cycle, once the worst of the coronavirus subsides and attention is back onto the presidential race, Biden is going to answer for his current and past policy positions on China.

For the most immediate crisis, Biden hasn’t handled it well.

It started in January when President Trump announced a ban on travel to and from China to mitigate the spread of the disease in the United States.

“We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science — not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering. He is the worst possible person to lead our country through a global health emergency,” Biden said in reaction to the ban.

Confined to the corners of what appears to be his basement in Delaware, Biden has repeatedly demanded President Trump invoke the Defense Production Act for a variety of reasons. These calls came after President Trump had already taken specific actions under the law, making Biden look uninformed and behind on ways to combat the growing crisis.

In the past, Biden has said China isn’t a threat and has downplayed their ongoing campaigns to undermine the U.S. geopolitically, militarily and economically.

“China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man,” Biden said during an Iowa campaign stop last summer “I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what? They’re not competition for us.”

“The fact of the matter is we can do all we need to do without punishing anybody,” he continued.

Biden’s position on China is dangerous and not based in reality. For years the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been sending Chinese students to America’s top doctorate programs in order to gain access to university research labs. There, they steal intellectual property from the highest levels of U.S. science.

Now, we know China’s dangerous handling of viruses in its own labs has led to one of the most devastating and fastest economic destructions in global history.

According to recent Harris polling, 77 percent of Americans believe China, led and controlled by the CCP, is responsible for unleashing the disease on the world. The CCP is being held responsible for the health and economic consequences of the virus. Further, 54 percent of Americans want paid reparations from the country. Given Biden’s record, this spells trouble for him in November.

A reckoning for China is all but certain as Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill work with the White House to punish the CCP for what it has done through deceit, lies, libel and coverups of the disease. Will Biden get on board? Or downplay the threat again?

Finally, an official trip Biden took to China in 2013 with his son provides fertile ground for new scrutiny.

“Hunter Biden was forming a Chinese private equity fund that associates said at the time was planning to raise big money, including from China. Hunter Biden has acknowledged meeting with Jonathan Li, a Chinese banker and his partner in the fund during the trip, although his spokesman says it was a social visit,” NBC News reports about the trip. “The Chinese business license that brought the new fund into existence was issued by Shanghai authorities 10 days after the trip, with Hunter Biden a member of the board.”

Republican senators have already asked for more information about Biden’s conflicts of interest when he was in charge of U.S. foreign policy portfolios.

At a time when China has moved from an adversary to an enemy, Biden has much explaining to do about his policy stance toward the communist regime and his son’s favoritism — based on proximity to the White House — inside the country.

Pavlich is the editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.