Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden claimed Tuesday night that he could get China to allow U.S. health experts into the country simply by hectoring the country.
“Here’s the deal. I would be on the phone with China and making it clear, ‘We are going to need to be in your country. You have to be open. You have to be clear. We have to know what’s going on. We have to be there with you.’ And insists on it. And insist, insist, insist. I could get that done,” Biden said.
Biden offered no evidence that China would change its policies, which have so far kept out U.S. health experts who offered to aid the country in combating the coronavirus outbreak, after repeated insistence.
In a similar fashion, Mike Bloomberg said that he would be able to convince China to change policies that result in unfair trade practices and forced technology transfers but offered not details or policies. He implied that China would do so simply because he would convince the leadership that it was in the interest of their people.
“You can negotiate with [Xi Jinping]. That’s exactly what we have to do. Make it seem that it is in his interest and his people’s interest to do what we want to do,” Bloomberg said. “Follow the rules, particularly no stealing of intellectual property. Follow the rules in terms of the trade agreements we have are reciprocal and go equally in both directions.”
Biden sounded a similar note.
“You can cooperate and you can also dictate exactly what they are,” Biden said.
Many of the Democratic candidates have been critical of Donald Trump’s tariffs on China but have failed to offer credible alternatives that would get China to change policies to which they object. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both said they would force China to comply their with environmental, labor, and human rights policies while still criticizing Trump’s tariffs.