UNBURDENED: How Harris could get China right

Journalist Jane Perlez on how the U.S. can change the dangerous trend lines with Beijing

The relationship between the U.S. and China is currently about as strained as it’s ever been since President Nixon and Chairman Mao opened relations in 1972. From the future of Taiwan to the future of technology, there’s very little that both countries agree on. And it’s only going to get worse if both countries continue prioritizing confrontational rhetoric over finding common ground.

For the latest installment of our Unburdened series, we asked journalist Jane Perlez to ask what a potential Harris-Walz administration could do to improve relations with China in the coming years while still prioritizing America’s interests and values. As the former Beijing bureau chief of The New York Times and now host of the Face-Off podcast — which is about the changing dynamics of the U.S.-China relationship — Perlez is among the top experts on this subject.

Perlez’s five recommendations below are as concise as they are insightful. Her response breaks down the complexity of the overall relationship into individually addressable sources of tension that feel more comprehensible — even if they elude tidy policy solutions.

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UNBURDENED is The Ink’s interview series named after Vice President Harris’s catchphrase, where we ask some of the smartest policy minds out there to envision a bold, aggressive Harris agenda to materially improve people’s lives — unburdened by what has been.

Previously: Border security, featuring former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson; debt and education and economics, featuring Astra Taylor; and foreign policy, featuring Matthew Duss

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Jane Perlez on a China agenda for Harris

The United States and China appear to be headed toward a confrontation that could eventually lead to war. Both sides are striving to dominate Asia. China is seen in the region as the bold new power pushing to make gains where it can; the United States is viewed as what some call a “fitful” power, lacking the weight it enjoyed during the Cold War. Nobody thinks there can be a replica of the breakthrough Nixon/Kissinger diplomacy of the 1970s. Few envision a grand bargain to quiet down the brittle competition. But these approaches taken together could tamp down the dangerous trend lines:  

1. Quality diplomacy: The U.S. should recognize the need for quality diplomacy, not just diplomacy around the edges. This is envisioned in a report for the Council on Foreign Relations by Robert Blackwill and Philip Zelikow. Talking to China about fentanyl and climate change is necessary. The need to talk to China about the geopolitical situation is just as urgent. Xi Jinping will likely be in charge until 2035. Trying to change that calculus by talking of regime change by the US should be taken off the table. Though difficult, efforts can be made to chip away at the China/Russia axis.