The Trump-Pence administration will be winding up on the 20th January 2021, and this will be followed swifty by the inauguration of the Biden-Harris administration.
Photo: Ballistic missiles recently paraded in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital.
The Trump administration have enacted policies and employed strategies that were aimed at ensuring cordial relationship between the US and the duo of China and North Korea respectively. However, recent happenings are already indicating that Trump's policies weren't foolproof enough to ensure a lasting effect, thus, leaving President-elect Joe Biden with some possible hard time at the Oval office.
Both China and North Korea had proved their Worths while the Trump administration lasted. China had turned out to be a major global challenger of the US in terms of technology and trade, with the Asia giant already building an economic empire for itself in the pan-Asia region and in many other parts of the globes, especially in the African continent.
North Korea, on the other hand, had continued to pose as a threat to the united States' military owing to her continued nuclear Program. Recently, it was reported that DPRK have unveiled new and upgraded weapons in its nuclear arsenal.
Bloomberg reported that, "The North Korea awaiting President-elect Joe Biden is more dangerous and more self-reliant, possessing at least three different intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to a U.S. city. Kim has over the past two years test-launched a range of new rockets to threaten allied forces closer to home. He’s built a fleet of special trucks needed to deploy such nuclear-ready weapons around the country and is believed to be constructing a submarine to put them to sea"
Although, President Trump's trade sanctions worked on North Korea, as Kim Jong-un has admitted that his administration had been unable to revive DPRK's economy which had contracted successively for two years, yet the US sanctions seemed not to have affected Kim's nuclear program in the least possible way.
The recent parade in Pyongyang further attested to the fact that Trump's policies were not far-reaching with regulating Kim's nuclear program.
After several diplomatic talks between the two leaders, all of which did not resolve the imbroglio, North Korea had only become more dangerous under Trump! With Kim describing the US as "Our adversary", the issue becomes a very hard nut for the Biden-Harris administration to crack.
Diplomats have continued to argue that it is usual custom for North Korea to come up with some signals that would force the US back to the negotiation table. More provocations have also been predicted in the wake of Biden's tenure and the outcome largely depends on Trump's last minute policies and Biden's counter-policies or fresh policies upon assumption of office.
However, it should be recalled that prior to the US general elections in November 2020, Kim had in a tweet declared support for president Trump, urging all Americans to reelect Trump for continued cordial relationship between the two countries but, when things eventually turned out in an entirely different way, Kim's recent nuclear programs could be passing a strong message to Biden to hint him of the ongoing impasse between Washington and Pyongyang or perhaps, it could be a preemptive stance to forestall any form of crackdown by the incoming administration.
If Biden strengthens the already existing rapport between Washington and Seoul, then this might just be the required trigger for Pyongyang to embark on more provocations and as well step up her nuclear testing program all in a bid to attract the US attention.
Trump had engaged in diplomatic negotiations with Kim on nuclear disarmament, a policy which seemed to have yielded results as North Korea closed a number of testing sites as a follow-up to the then deal.
However, talks between Trump and Kim became stalled in 2019 and the latter is fast becoming inconvenient with US sanctions. Biden is yet to make his stand clear on what policies to employ in tackling the North Korea issue.
Biden feels however comfortable about China, as he had already hinted the approach with which his administration would address the US-China policy. Trump had maintained a grandstanding posture and had been tough on China owing to acts of currency manipulation, intellectual property theft and human rights violations in Hong Kong.
This had earned China a couple of sanctions from Trump. Tariffs worth hundreds of billions of dollars was imposed on Chinese products, Chinese companies and restriction on Chinese business from buying American technology, this has however taken its toll on the American citizens.
This diplomatic onslaught was targeted at forcing China to modify its trade practices and authoritarian style. However, Trump's China policy has been faulted for being too clumsy and haphazard, as it had been characterised by a hotch-potch of sanctions and phased deals, of which Trump's phase one deal had failed to make China buy up to $200 million of US product.
Biden and his advisers have been leaning towards a smarter and more strategic policy; the incoming president has consistently harped on the possibility of working with China on climate control and the Pandemic whilst maintaining a tough stance on China.
However, The US-CHINA policy under Biden is expected to be less-stringent as flexibility will be employed.
Biden talks about empowering the American workforce to become competitive and would channel about $300 billion into the technological and pharmaceutical industries, this has been projected to generate about 3 million well-paying jobs.
Biden's track record being softhearted towards China was brought to the bear by President Trump in the build-up to the US elections, where he was quoted to have said that "China would love to have an election where Donald Trump lost to sleepy Joe Biden. They would dream that they own our country. If Joe Biden was president, China would rule our country".
Although, overstated, Trump's statement still brought back some memories when Biden voted to grant China permanent trading relations in 2000, thus paving way for China's entry into the World Trade Organization(WTO) and deeper economic ties. This was however counterproductive, as China exploited the international system. This must have informed Biden's current compromise on China, knowing fully well that any policy that would place China at an undue advantage will be rejected by Americans.
The major distinguishing feature between Trump's policy and Biden's expected policy on is the readiness of the latter to work in sync with China on the issues bordering on climate control and coronavirus pandemic. These positions are the major bones of contention between Trump's US and China and this earned the latter and the WHO a whiplash of sanctions from Washington.
Trump had in last year, accused China and WHO of being accomplices in the global spread of coronavirus, an allegation that was not substantiated with enough evidence. The blame game however continued with little or no solution to the raging pandemic.
Biden could be leveraging on the reports that China had achieved some success in effectively managing the pandemic and would possibly soft-pedal on the earlier Trump sanctions on China and WHO. He's reiterated it continuously that he was going to shut down the virus, perhaps, he is looking in the China way.
Inauguration is in a few days and two major challenges already awaits Biden in the Oval office; North Korea in desperate need for an end to the sanctions and the need to foster a non-toxic relationship with China. Duty calls!
Comments
Post a Comment