Biden cannot give China’s Xi the upper hand

China’s foreign ministry reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Biden that “those who play with fire will perish by it” during their two-hour phone conversation on Thursday. This barely disguised threat to the United States likely was related to the planned trip to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Xi also reportedly advanced a demand of non-interference by other powers in the Beijing-Taipei relationship, saying it’s an internal matter of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that the U.S. must accept.  

Xi issued other warnings to Biden regarding China’s conception of what the U.S. can and cannot do to protect its interests in the Indo-Pacific. In what one senior administration official described as a “direct” and “honest” conversation, Biden affirmed that the U.S. does not seek Taiwan’s independence and the U.S. has not changed its “One China” policy. Xi reportedly claimed that people expect Beijing and Washington to work together to solve the world’s problems and to promote development and prosperity.

The seemingly truculent and — if presented accurately — horribly one-sided phone conversation provides an opportunity to take stock of the Sino-American relationship in the second year of the Biden administration.

First, it is questionable how useful such conversations are if they provide a forum for Xi to berate Biden and offer what must be considered diktat — and if China can advance its interpretation of the dialogue faster and wider than the U.S. can. The Biden administration’s leaden response after these events hinders U.S. diplomacy and global standing. This was similar to previous conversations the leaders have had, or exchanges between officials in Anchorage or Luxembourg, in which China appeared to set the tone and harangued the U.S. side. 

The credibility of U.S. commitments and expressions of U.S. resolve matter in global politics, most pointedly now with Beijing’s increasing aggression against Taiwan. No U.S. president should permit himself to be so treated for the honor of the country, the credibility of its commitment, and strength of its deterrent. In conversations with Xi, Biden must express the interests of the United States clearly and firmly. U.S. commitments underpin the stability of international politics and what is said affects the perception of our country by global audiences, including U.S. adversaries.  

Equally important, Biden is in the right to take the upper hand — China is committing genocide against Muslim peoples in Xinjiang and the U.S. should not be reticent to express its moral superiority. The U.S. should never accept hectoring or abuse from authoritarian governments that violate human rights. Unfortunately, it appears that in this conversation, Biden may not have reaffirmed intolerance for China’s human rights abuses.

Second, Xi evidently attempted to raise his status as the leader who can guide the world by establishing equality between China and the United States as the two titans that can heal what ails the world — thus, his statement regarding the need for China and the U.S. to work together to address the world’s needs and developments. Domestically, Xi blames the U.S. as the only source of global chaos when, in fact, it is the CCP that threatens the world and is determined to overthrow international stability and standards of human rights.  

The Biden administration simply cannot accept attempts to establish a moral parity regarding the world’s future. There are two paths illuminated by these two powers, but they are not equal. Washington offers the hope of freedom, equality and prosperity and is a better ally for the peoples of the world. Beijing’s future is one of tyranny and control, and a brutal and strict hierarchy with all others subordinate to China. No U.S. president should be concerned about how China might interpret the conversation; what matters is what the U.S. must accomplish expeditiously.

The biggest misconception inherent in Biden’s China policy is the premise that China’s threats to the U.S. and international liberal order can be eliminated through risk management. Biden and his advisers apparently fail to see that the CCP’s treacherous, subversive and violent nature cannot be controlled, or managed or changed. No matter how much CCP strategy changes with individual leaders — from Deng Xiaoping’s “biding one’s time,” to Hu Jintao’s “making great achievements,” to Xi’s “guiding the world and mankind in the right direction” — the party’s true intent of global domination never changes.

Biden’s phone call with Xi undoubtedly will help Xi in his bid to secure a third term giving him legitimacy, and any promised cooperation by the U.S. could give the party-state another strategic opportunity to catch up with the United States. The communist regime will pretend to work with the West but turn on Washington when the chance arises. This is Mao Zedong’s strategy of “using the revolutionary’s two hands to deal with the counter-revolutionary’s two hands,” a euphemism he often used to justify deception. 

Third, rather than being on the back foot, the U.S. has an opportunity on these occasions to force Xi to respond to the CCP’s abuses. Biden could push Xi on human rights abuses by raising specific issues or cases. To have a conversation with Xi without raising what China is doing to the Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uyghur Muslims is unconscionable. Additionally, Biden might have insisted that Xi lower the Great Firewall, which prevents Chinese citizens from accessing the internet freely and helps to sustain the CCP’s power. He could have insisted that Xi honor his 2015 pledge to President Obama regarding cyber theft and security.  

Although the issue of Ukraine reportedly was raised, the U.S. should have insisted on Xi’s support before Russia’s invasion — and even now. Biden might have expressed the need to extend the boycott of Chinese firms doing business in Russia from a small number to the totality of Chinese entities. Moreover, Biden might have told Xi that he will work to prevent U.S. entities from investing in firms that support the genocide in Xinjiang from the modest number imposed in December 2021 to all entities supporting the abuse of Muslims. Ending this genocide and the “cotton gulag” that China has created should be the highest priority.

The Biden administration must know that reiterating no support for Taiwan’s independence and maintaining the status quo with its China policy no longer can satisfy Xi. This is because Xi now sees “liberating” Taiwan as part of his “Chinese Dream” of national rejuvenation, which he believes he must accomplish by any means and at any cost. Besides, by opposing Taiwan’s independence, the U.S. not only disrespects the will of Taiwan’s people but also undermines the existing world order that is based on self-determination. 

As the midterm elections approach, it is time for the American people to consider the Sino-American relationship and what the Biden presidency has or has not gained from its relationship with Xi’s regime. The U.S. has gained too little. The CCP is becoming more aggressive; the expansion of China’s influence in Africa, Asia and the Pacific is unrelenting. China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not abated, and the pressure against Taiwan and India are building. The genocide in Xinjiang continues, as do endemic human rights abuses against the Chinese people. Yet Wall Street permits investments in Chinese entities to fund it all.  

Far from playing with fire, the Biden administration’s approach to China is as accommodating as Xi can expect. The future of stability in global politics does not rest with Xi’s placation, but instead depends upon confrontation to cause his defeat. Biden must learn from Mao, “Cast away illusions [and] prepare for struggle.”

Lianchao Han is vice president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China and worked in the U.S. Senate for 12 years. He and Bradley A. Thayer are co-authors of the forthcoming book, “Understanding the China Threat.”