Biden’s Strategy Toward China Is ‘Doomed to Fail,’ Beijing Says

(Bloomberg) -- China criticized the Biden administration's strategy toward Beijing as being “doomed to fail,” less than a week after Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's visit to the Asian nation aimed at bolstering ties. 

The focus by US on “competition and controlling competition” is fundamentally no different than its decades-old approach of “engagement and containment,” China's Ministry of State Security said on its official WeChat account.

“China will never let down its vigilance because of a few ‘beautiful words' from the US,” the country's top spy agency said. 

Raimondo visited China last week, where she secured a pledge to restore the kind of formal communication channels that have been severed over years of deteriorating ties. Even so, mutual suspicion continues to run deep. Raimondo said there can be “no trust” unless Beijing takes action in areas such as more predictable regulations. And the latest comments by China's spy agency underscore just how hard it is for any real improvement in their relations. 

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“Recently, many US officials have visited China one after another, saying that the Biden administration has no intention of containing China's development, does not seek to decouple from China, and is willing to maintain communication with China,” the ministry said. 

“At the same time, the U.S. approved arms sales to Taiwan, provided military financing to Taiwan, continued to stir up troubles on issues related to Tibet and the South China Sea, and publicly bad-mouthed China's economy,” it added.

It's rare for the Chinese security agency to provide a public assessment of US's strategy. The ministry has in recent months been taking a more public profile, including issuing a call on social media for citizens to join its anti-espionage crackdown. Beijing has been ratcheting up anti-spying efforts as President Xi Jinping grows more wary of the US and its allies.

“To truly realize ‘from Bali to San Francisco,' the US needs to show enough sincerity,” the security agency said. It didn't elaborate, but is likely to refer to a possible meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco later this year. 

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