Hong Kong has been dealt with. Now Taiwan is next on China’s agenda. And Joe Biden’s America is facing huge tasks to deal with a home first, says Daryl Liew, chief investment officer at Reyl in Singapore, in an interview with finews.com.
Daryl Liew, how was the election of Joe Biden received in Asia?
Most Asian countries preferred Joe Biden to win. The interesting anomalies are Taiwan and Vietnam. Both have a pretty strong anti-China sentiment. The countries in Asia that had clashes with China preferred Donald Trump because they considered him more capable of standing up to China.
For the other countries his lack of a foreign policy, his unpredictability, and the fact that he started a trade war that proved negative for a lot of exporters in Asia weighed more heavily – so they preferred a return to the normal.
Will tensions in Asia ease under Biden?
The anti-China sentiment is not just a Republican thing, it is bi-partisan and goes across the whole of America. In fact, it has spread much farther, to Europe and India, Vietnam and other parts of Asia – so this sentiment is pretty strong.
«Joe Biden must tackle domestic challenges first»
If Biden went soft on China, he would suffer a backlash domestically. He will tread carefully in this respect. On trade, Biden has spoken out against the war and the tariffs, calling them a lose-lose situation, so I expect him to roll back the tariffs.
Do you see the trade differences to come onto the table soon?
The issue will be on the back burner, because Biden has more urgent domestic challenges to tackle first, primarily Covid-19.
Biden will start the phase-II-trade negotiations as a way to tackle the issue of China later. He will probably seek some concessions from China so that he doesn’t look weak. If China can provide those, both parties will walk away claiming that they both are winning. The trade war won’t escalate from where we stand today.
What about the U.S. opposition to tech giants such as Huawei and its perceived role in China’s spying effort?
There won’t be any change on the tech front. That clash will continue because China is regarded as a strategic rival by the U.S. The American tactic will change under Biden because he won’t want to pursue a unilateral way.
«Donald Trump didn't have any ideological belief in human rights»
Other countries outside the U.S. have similar concerns about China’s ability to use Huawei technology to spy on them.
And what about human rights issues?
With respect to human rights, I expect more clashes. Donald Trump didn’t have any ideological belief in human rights. Joe Biden has campaigned on a platform of making human rights a core part of U.S. foreign policy.
More clashes are to be expected over the treatment of the Uighurs and the democracy movement in Hong Kong.
How do you see the current situation in Hong Kong?
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