The Democrats have tried very hard to project Joe Biden as a non-partisan face, who is willing to take the whole country together. It was also projected within his speech on the inauguration day as he was trying to take the Republicans who did not vote for him into confidence and said that its time to unite together as Americans. However, soon after, the news arrived that the Chinese have put sanctions on the members of Trump administration including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Now, Republicans are mounting pressure on Joe Biden and his administration to get China to remove those sanctions against the officials of Trump administration. So far, Emily Horne, the spokesperson for Biden’s National Security Council, has said that the sanctions are “unproductive and cynical.” However, no measure which proves the non-partisan nature of Biden presidency is being showcased. Thus, Biden has been taken to task, he will be judged on two counts, one, whether he was serious when he said about representing all US citizens? and two, does he standby what he says?
Those sanctioned also include Trump’s Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell, Health Secretary Alex Azar and UN envoy Kelly Craft.
As per news reports, the sanctions were announced on Jan. 20, the same day that President Joe Biden was sworn into the Oval Office. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson accused the U.S. officials of carrying out “a series of crazy moves” that “seriously interfered with China’s internal affairs” and “seriously disrupted China-U.S. relations.” It came just after the then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo termed the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution against Uyghurs and other majority-Muslim ethnic minorities as “genocide” and are “crimes against humanity.” Thereby setting a precedent which can be cited and even emulated verbatim against China by other countries.
As per The Epoch Times, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), outgoing chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, took to Twitter to say that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was “testing the Biden Admin’s resolve to continue a tougher, competitive approach towards China.” He added, “Together, Republicans & Democrats must show Beijing we will not be deterred from defending U.S. interests.”
Trump was merciless as China trembled and did not take even a single action against the Trump administration even as Trump kept sanctioning the officials of the CCP right, left and centre over their crackdowns on democracy in Hong Kong.
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In the last days of his presidency, Trump even lifted restrictions on official contact with Taipei. Moreover, contemporary to these orders, President Trump also approved various multimillion-dollar arms deals to help Taiwan against any Chinese aggression. The Chinese government and media threatened actions and various sanction but were unable to act on it. And this must have been the trigger for China to get even a semblance of revenge.
The Republicans are now mounting pressure on Joe Biden to make sure that he stand by his oath and words when he said that he is going to lead the country together. Now the Republicans have sent the ball in the Democrats’ court and how the Biden administration reacts will let everyone know the reality of Biden beyond his speech.