TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Some say that rising powers always clash with established ones. This may be true in some cases, but does it have to be the fate of America and China? Wenchi Yu from TVBS asked Ryan Hass of Brookings Institution his thoughts about U.S. President Joe Biden's recent comments about Taiwan and, beyond, how America can strengthen its approach to China.
The senior fellow was the China director at the White House National Security Council between 2013 and 2017. He is the author of Stronger: Adapting America's China Strategy in an Age of Competitive Interdependence. "My general view is that when the President says something four times, it's not a gaffe; it's a statement of conviction," Hass said about the "60 Minutes" interview during which Biden said U.S. troops would defend Taiwan.
"It reflects his strong feelings and views of what is necessary," he continued. "And we should take him at his word, that this is what he means he means that the United States should be prepared to intervene if there is a conflict in the Taiwan Strait." Asked about the "competitive interdependence" framework, Hass told the TVBS commentator that the framing device could help understand how "large, powerful, proud countries relate to each other in the world."
"It is intended to try to highlight that there are various aspects of the relationship competition surely is a big part of the relationship. I think that's sort of the core of the relationship right now," he explained. Hass pointed out that "each country has its own interest, its own concerns about Chinese behavior, and they don't all map identically with our own."
Still, he argues that Washington and Beijing can develop a "pretty ambitious agenda pretty quickly" around public health, clean energy, technology, climate change, trade and investment, and technology innovation. It's not clear whether or not China is capable of doing what it has done in the past or if China is just locked on a course that will stay constant as long as President Xi remains in power, he remarked.
"That's the big question mark that I think a lot of observers have. And we'll be trying to use the party congress and its aftermath to begin to measure," he concluded.
