In his State of the Union speech on February 7, 2023, President Joe Biden expressed a bold stance towards China, just three days after the United States military took down a spy balloon that entered the country’s airspace. Let’s take a close look at Biden’s China remarks at the State of the Union (SOTU) speech.
It is worth noting that foreign policy didn’t get much attention in Biden’s speech.
‘We seek competition, not conflict’
In the bottom third of his speech Biden mentioned China saying, “Before I came to office, the story was about how the People’s Republic of China was increasing its power and America was falling in the world. Not anymore. I’ve made clear with President Xi that we seek competition, not conflict.”
Make America Strong
Biden stated, “I will make no apologies that we are investing to make America strong.”
While not explicitly addressing the chip war, President Biden indicated that he plans to prioritize investing in American innovation and industries that will shape the future. He also indicated China’s government’s intentions to dominate these fields.
“Investing in our alliances and working with our allies to protect our advanced technologies so they’re not used against us,” he added.
He emphasized the need to modernize the US military to maintain stability and deter aggression.
Biden claimed that the US is now in the strongest position in decades to compete with China or anyone else in the world and said, “I am committed to work with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world.”
Balloon affair
Referring to the balloon affair, Biden said, “But make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”
Calling out China’s leader, Biden deviated from his prepared speech and shouted, “Name me a world leader who’d change places with Xi Jinping.”
He urged all to, calling for unity in the competition with China.
Critical update
On the same day of President Biden’s State of the Union speech, the Pentagon announced that China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe declined a request for a conversation with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, following the shooting down of a surveillance balloon by an American fighter jet.
