Ilhan Omar is wrong about ‘Cold War’ with China

Speaking about the China focused bills on the senate floor, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) expressed concerns over the Biden administration’s alleged “anti-China” policies that in her view have the potential to inflame racism against Asian Americans and lead to an unending conflict with China akin to a new Cold War. Her progressive colleagues and 60 other activist groups have joined the chorus, lobbying for a softer approach to China. 

Omar and her colleagues are incorrect to characterize the administration’s tough stance toward China as a new Cold War. Three events that unfolded during the first four months of President Biden’s term in office have guided his administration’s China policy and will shape them over the next three and a half years. 

One is the incident in South China Sea, where China was amassing shipping vessels on the Whitsun reef in early April of this year. Two is the tabling of the Strategic Competition Act by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) that clearly lays out methods to successfully compete with China. Three is the rise in hate crimes toward the Asian American community leading Biden to sign the anti-Asian hate crime bill into law. These three issues clearly outline Biden’s agenda toward China: Contain them in the South China Sea; compete with them economically and protect Asian Americans at home while engaging in the first two.  

Similar to his former boss President Obama’s predicament back in 2009, Biden took office during a time of crisis. The difference being, Biden was facing headwinds from all fronts, — a raging pandemic, a climate crisis, a spike in hate crimes, hyper polarization, a world in crisis and an economy in tatters and not just the economy as Obama was facing in 2009.  To the dismay of many progressive lawmakers, China is the source of a number of these challenges that America and its partners around the globe face today. China controlling entire supply chains has made nations vulnerable to its economic coercion.  

The COVID-19 pandemic that was first reported in China brought to light these vulnerabilities. Australia’s predicament is one such example where a nation’s overdependence on China was brought to light. Australian government’s vocal support to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 virus was met with bans and tariffs on its barley, beef and wine exports from the Chinese government. 

Furthermore, the supply chains of raw materials required to manufacture electric vehicles, batteries, wind turbines and solar panels are all controlled by China. Without decoupling and diversifying supply chains, Biden’s plans for addressing climate change through changes in energy production in the U.S. will be conditional on China providing unfettered access to these materials to the United States without any quid pro quo, as was expected with Australia.  

The two bills to be soon debated in the Senate, the Endless Frontier Act and the Strategic Competition Act address these challenges. And the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which is designed to improve hate crime tracking and reporting by assigning a Justice Department official to the task, is now an official policy. 

Nevertheless, an Act may not be a silver bullet to address hate crimes. Omar’s concerns that any attempt at confronting China has the potential to morph into the demonization of Chinese Americans are legitimate. And Biden should certainly learn lessons from the past that validate these concerns — from the Japanese internment camps, the violent attacks on Muslims and Sikhs post 9-11 and from the most recent attacks on Asian Americans, that rhetoric and harsh explicit criticism toward a foreign country has the unintended consequence of violent attacks on people of that nationality or ethnicity at home. 

To that end, Biden should diverge from his predecessor, President Trump, and avoid language that could incite violence toward the Asian American community.  He should adopt the West African philosophy of “speaking softly and carrying a big stick” to confront China. 

Trump did the exact opposite by speaking loudly and carrying a small stick. He referred to the COVID-19 virus as the China virus or the Kung Flu and limited actions to trade and tariff wars over concrete legislations. His incendiary language only led to an increase in hate crimes targeted toward Asian Americans and the tariff wars did little damage to the diversified Chinese economy to gain any form of leverage.  

However, while Omar’s concerns over a rise in hate crimes are valid, her advocacy for increased cooperation with China is misplaced. As Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Menendez rightly puts it “we must be realistic about the China we have, not the China we want to have.” Omar grossly underestimates the threat posed by a rising China, not just to the American economy and the liberal order, but to America’s allies and partners around the globe. 

Competing with China and preventing hate crimes toward the Asian American community do not have to be mutually exclusive. Preventing hate crimes does not have to entail cooperating with a competitor who grossly violates human rights and does not respect rules-based international order.  

Biden often touts his administration to be the most diverse and as truly is representative of America. Furthermore, in his address to Congress, he articulated his vision for a foreign policy for the middle class and for addressing climate change through concrete actions. 

To walk the talk, Biden’s best option is to confront China by reshoring factories and diversifying supply chains of raw materials required for a green economy, all while respecting the diversity of America by not explicitly calling out China. That would be, as the Chinese government loves to call it, a “win-win” for all involved — American middle class, America’s allies and the Asian American community.  

Akhil Ramesh is a non-resident Vasey fellow at the Pacific Forum. He has worked with risk consulting firms, think tanks and in the blockchain industry in the United States, India and in the Philippines. His analysis has been published in The South China Morning Post, The Diplomat, Asia Times and the Jerusalem Post. Follow him on Twitter @akhil_oldsoul