On April 14, US Climate Envoy John Kerry landed in Shanghai to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, seeking cooperation at the US-led climate summit that would be occurring approximately a week later. At the same time, across the Taiwan Strait, former US Senator Chris Dodd and former Deputy Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and James Steinberg paid an unofficial visit to Taiwan to deliver what a White House official called a "personal signal" that indicated President Biden’s support of Taiwan and its democracy.
This diplomatic arrangement by the White House required careful political deliberation. The timing of the two delegations' trip seemed more like a soothing signal than a provocative gesture to China and Taiwan. It’s fair to say that the Biden Administration preferred a sustained regional status quo through this arrangement.
Apart from the timing, the members involved in the delegations allowed room for speculation of the diplomatic message that was behind such an arrangement. It appears that the Biden Administration sought to appease both sides in a balanced and restrained manner so as to not provoke them. First, an unofficial delegation that consisted of former senators and former deputy secretaries would provide insights regarding Taiwan's strategic significance under the current US administration. Presumably, in Biden’s mind, an unofficial delegation would sufficiently deliver his support to Taiwan, but not to an extent that would provoke the Chinese government. Therefore, Biden’s envoys to Taiwan were deemed nothing more than a symbolic gesture, a mere practice of the US's strategic ambiguity policy to Taiwan. In fact, the Chinese government did not seem to heed the unofficial delegation, remaining open for talks with John Kerry the day after the unofficial delegation's visit to Taiwan.
In fulfilling his dual role in the White House, John Kerry sent a dual message to officials in China. On the one hand, Kerry came to reach a climate deal as the incumbent Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. However, Kerry’s identity as the former Secretary of State under the Obama-Biden Administration more or less implies that the long-standing US foreign policy of “Cooperate and Compete” towards China would return, marked by his efforts in “constructively managing [both countries’] differences and constructively coordinating [both countries’] efforts on the wide range of issues where interests are aligned” (Kerry). As such, the Biden administration sent two teams of former officials to both sides, delivering a political message that was neither dismissive nor uninterested.
However, these intentions might be interpreted by China as leverage from the US against Taiwan, which ultimately serves to push China to reach a climate deal, therefore giving the Chinese government an incentive to re-evaluate its advantages under China-US relations and leverage its enormous carbon emission in exchange for economic or geopolitical gain. For example, China deployed a record number of 25 aircrafts to the Taiwan Strait on the day of Biden’s envoys’ visit to Taiwan, seemingly sending the message that China had undermined the American government’s strategy.
It remains unclear how the Biden Administration will handle its tie with the Greater China Region and how his foreign policies will play out. Many critics of Biden's “Cooperate and Compete” foreign policies believe that it is unlikely to reach a deal with China under strained relations, given China's multiple cases of failing its promises in the past two decades, such as its non-militarization pledge of the South China Sea and its vow to not implement the Hong Kong National Security Law retroactively.
As Kerry wrapped up his three-day visit in China, both countries issued a joint statement, "recall[ing] their historic contribution to the development, adoption, signature, and entry into force of the Paris Agreement through their leadership and collaboration" (Office of the Spokesperson). Kerry spoke to reporters in Seoul after the visit, stating that this was "the first time China has joined in saying it’s a crisis... The language [of the Chinese delegate] is very strong." (White and Hook) Kerry held high hopes for China’s strong commitment. Nevertheless, Xi's remark on the Earth Day Climate Summit did not seem that attractive compared with its Western counterparts. While the US, Canada, and Japan unveiled tighter greenhouse gas emissions targets for 2030, China announced that its carbon emission would peak by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2060, despite "no clarity about how to get there" (Shih).
How Biden’s engagement with China aiming to achieve his climate ambition will play out is yet to be known. However, while Biden’s foreign policies will stall the deterioration of the US’s relationship with China to some extent, the US and its allies will continue to strain their ties with China.
Works Cited
Kerry, John. "Secretary Kerry on U.S.-China Relations." 4 Nov. 2014, Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies. Speech. https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/secretary-kerry-u-s-china-relations/
Office of the Spokesperson. "U.S.-China Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis." United
States Department of State, 19 Apr. 2021, www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-statement-addressing-the-climate-crisis/. Accessed 9 May 2021.
Shih, Gerry. "Biden’s climate summit shows rivalry with U.S. complicates China’s green push."
The Washington Post, 23 Apr. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/climate-summit-china-biden/2021/04/23/6e6ef800-a349-11eb-b314-2e993bd83e31_story.html.
White, Edward, and Leslie Hook. "US and China Pledge Joint Action on Climate Change Despite
Strained Ties." Financial Times, 18 Apr. 2021, www.ft.com/content/71f724ff-a25c-4ff7-8713-b0aa02d3adb5.