Biden slammed for 'appeasing' Chinese regime

Republican leaders in the United States House of Representatives have slammed the Joe Biden administration for pursuing "fruitless engagement" with China; participating in talks with Beijing on terms set by China; displaying weakness and following a policy of "appeasement"; and delaying on competitive actions that the US must pursue in its strategic competition with China.

- Prashant Jha

The administration has rejected the charge and claimed it has taken "unprecedented" steps to compete with China. It has also claimed that the engagement with Beijing has happened from a position of strength rather than weakness and on terms set by the US, and Washington DC is not "pulling any punches" in the strategic competition with China.

In a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, during a meeting vened by subcommittee on Indo-Pacific affairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) to discuss the administration's budgetary request for the region for this year, HFAC chair Michael McCaul and subcommittee chair Kim Young both Republicans grilled US assistant Secretary of State for East Asian affairs Daniel Kritenbrink on the administration's China policy.