In response to a question asked on Thursday about his remarks during the presidential debates that he wanted to punish China over the way Beijing has been behaving through economic sanctions or tariffs, US President-elect Joe Biden said that he wants to make sure that China plays by the rules and announced that his administration will rejoin the World Health Organisation. 

“It’s not so much about punishing China, it’s about making sure China understands they’ve got to play by the rules. It’s a simple proposition,” Biden said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of governors in his hometown in Wilmington, Delaware, citing this as one of the reasons why his administration is going to rejoin the World Health Organisation.

“We’re going to rejoin on day one as well and it needs reform, acknowledge, and rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. And we have to make sure that the rest of the world and we get together and make sure there are certain right lines the Chinese understand,” Biden said.

The United States withdrew from the WHO, following Donald Trump’s announcement in April.  He had accused the UN organisation for failing to oversee the onset of the coronavirus as it began to spread in China. 

During his tenure, Donald Trump pushed forcefully on all aspects of US-China ties, including with his trade war, challenging China’s military hold on the disputed South China Sea, its constant threats to Taiwan and branding coronavirus as “China virus” after it emerged from Wuhan in December last year. The ruling Communist Party of China headed by President Xi Jinping had struggled to deal with the Republican’s elusive and unpredictable tendencies. 

According to Chinese strategic experts, Biden entering the White House is expected to provide a platform for resuming communication between the administrations.

A day earlier, Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, published a majority report entitled “The United States and Europe: A Concrete Agenda for Transatlantic Cooperation on China,” to advance greater collaboration between the US and Europe on the challenges posed by China.

“We must be prepared to work with our trusted allies and partners to counter an increasingly confrontational China that attempts to undermine prosperity, security and good governance in every region of the globe,” Risch said.

The report puts forward concrete ideas for collaboration in six key areas- fending off malign political influence, protecting the integrity of international organisations, addressing anti-competitive trade and economic practices, investing in future technologies and shaping how they are used, confronting the security implications of China’s strategic investments in energy, transport, and digital infrastructure through “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR), and invigorating partnerships in Africa and the Indo-Pacific.

Beijing claims almost all of the contested 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. China has also been building military bases on artificial islands in the regions claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.