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United States President Joe Biden held the first presidential press conference since taking office on Thursday (March 25). He claimed that he would prevent China from overtaking the United States to become the most powerful country in the world and called for increased investment to ensure that the United States wins the competition with China.
Biden said that when he previously served as vice president in the Barack Obama administration, he had spent “several hours” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He is convinced that Xi Jinping believes that the key to the future is autocracy rather than democracy.
He also affirmed that it is currently “a struggle between democracy and authoritarian regimes in the 21st century,” so the United States “must demonstrate that democracy is effective.”
In addition to Sino-US relations, Biden also mentioned immigration policy, the new crown vaccine and the withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan at the press conference.
“Fierce competition”
Biden stated that he has clearly told Xi Jinping that the United States is not going to fight China, but to compete fiercely with China, and publicly demands that China abide by international rules and compete fairly.
“China has an overarching goal … to become the leading, richest and most powerful country in the world,” Biden told reporters. “During my tenure, this will not happen because the United States will continue to grow stronger.”
Biden also threatened to cooperate with allies and hold China accountable for its actions in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the South China Sea.
Biden’s comments echoed his comments when he ran for president. A few days ago, US and Chinese officials held the first high-level face-to-face meeting since he took office in Alaska, but the two sides fiercely accused each other at the start of the meeting.
Biden said he will work with U.S. allies to hold China accountable for its actions in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the South China Sea and its treatment of Uighur Muslims, and will urge Beijing to comply with international fair trade rules.
China has recently come under fire from the international community for being accused of violating the human rights of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in the western Xinjiang region. The European Union announced on Monday (March 22) that it will impose sanctions on Chinese officials for the first time in 30 years. The United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also subsequently issued statements imposing sanctions or convictions against China.
Beijing denounced these accusations as “lies”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying also took photos on Thursday (March 25) to show scenes of black American slaves forced to collect cotton fields in history, accusing the United States of actual forced labor.
Biden said that in a two-hour dialogue with Xi Jinping after he took office, he told Xi Jinping: “As long as you and your country continue to blatantly violate human rights, we will continue to spare no effort to call the world to Pay attention to this matter and make it clear to everyone. Know what happened “.” He understands this, “Biden said.
He said he also told Xi Jinping: “No American president has ever backed down and ignored what is happening to the Uyghurs, what is happening in Hong Kong, what is happening in (China). Because this is the people. of the United States “.
“The struggle between democracy and despotism”
Biden also spoke about his personal contacts with Xi Jinping at the press conference.
“I have known Xi Jinping for a long time. When I left the position of vice president, it can be said that I was one of the leaders in the world who spent the most time with Xi Jinping … I, him, and the translators of the two, we we got along well for hours, ”he said.
He also compared Xi Jinping to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said: “Like Putin, he believes that dictatorship is the way to go and that democracy cannot work in an increasingly complex world.”
Earlier this month, Biden said in an interview with ABC News that he considered Putin to be “a murderer,” which angered Moscow.
“He (Xi Jinping) is not a democrat, he does not have democracy in his bones, but he is a very smart person,” Biden said.
Biden emphasized that it is now a competition between democracy and autocracy. “Our future generations will study whether democracy wins or autocracy wins in this age.” He said he would rebuild the global democratic alliance.
“We want to rebuild our alliance, and I also tell Xi Jinping very clearly that he is not anti-China. I will speak to 27 European leaders … because democracies must cooperate. Soon I will invite democracies to join here. Discuss the future.” He said.
Before taking office, Biden promised to hold a democratic summit to showcase the common spirit and goals of the nations of the free world. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also promised to invite Taiwan to attend.
Biden also used his speech to criticize former President Donald Trump, saying that if the United States does not uphold its values, it will pay the price and begin to “lose its legitimacy around the world.”
Shortly before the White House press conference, US Secretary of State Blincoln delivered a speech on NATO in Brussels on Wednesday (March 24). He said: “There is no doubt that we have experienced what some people call a decline in democracy in recent years.”
“We are seeing the increasing power of authoritarian regimes. They represent a direct challenge to democracy and claim that they ‘can better serve their people,'” Brinken said.
“Last record”
Biden’s official press conference was more than 60 days after he entered the White House, breaking the record for the last press conference held by a US president in the last century.
In addition to the China issue, the issue of concern at the press conference was how his government will respond to increased immigration at the southern border. He blamed the Trump administration for the growing immigration crisis and said that in cold months, it is normal for the United States to experience a wave of immigration.
After Biden took office, he quickly canceled the Trump administration’s policy of cracking down on illegal immigration. Critics noted that this caused large numbers of Latin American refugees to return north, but Biden stressed that there is no problem. with this approach.
“The reason they came is because the desert is heating up, and right now the possibility of death coming out is minimal,” he said. “I like to see this because I am a good person, but that is not the case. This kind of thing happens every year.”
When asked if the US military will withdraw from Afghanistan on May 1 as scheduled, Biden said the scheduled withdrawal is “very difficult” and said the United States is negotiating with its allies on how to move forward on this issue.
Biden plans to announce a trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal next week. He said he will ensure that the United States increases investment in promising new technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology. He noted that China’s spending on infrastructure is three times that of the United States.
He said his goal is to bring US investment in research and development from about 0.7% of GDP to the level of almost 2% of GDP in the 1960s.
Speaking of the new vaccination crown, he doubled the government’s vaccine promotion goal and announced that he will complete the new goal of 200 million doses of new vaccination crown within 100 days of taking office.
He also said that despite opposition from Republicans, he still hopes to make progress on tough issues like the climate crisis, gun reform and immigration.
The oldest president in US history also revealed at a press conference that he is expected to run for re-election in 2024, when he will be 82 years old.