Sources: All information stated in this article is based on reliable information, and is summarized at the end of this article.
On January 15, 2024, a new round of U.S. elections quietly kicked off in Iowa, and a competition between Biden and Trump once again attracted global attention.
With only about nine months left before Biden's presidency, Biden is bound to spend a lot of time and energy on the campaign in the coming months, given Trump's popularity.
And this also means that Biden is unlikely to visit China during his term of office.
If Biden fails to visit China in the next nine months, he will also become the only U.S. president who has not visited China during his term since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
So what is it that has caused Biden to not visit China so far, and is it possible that he will still be able to visit China in the next nine months?
A visit to China by a senior U.S. official
On April 4, 2024, then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen paid a six-day visit to the mainland, which was also Yellen's second visit to China after nine months.
Although Yellen's visit was intended to ease relations between the two countries and discuss economic cooperation between China and the United States, the results of subsequent negotiations did not produce the desired results.
Although Yellen repeatedly emphasized during her visit to China that the United States is unwilling to "decouple" from China, Yellen's remarks about "new energy overcapacity" have a clear US position.
In addition to economic issues, Yellen also touched on political issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict during her visit to China.
But as the U.S. Treasury Secretary, political issues do not belong to Yellen's job, but this is also the specific situation of China and the United States at the moment, and some political issues that should have been discussed by Biden have not been resolved because Biden has not visited China so far.
Although the United States has also made it clear that it hopes Secretary of State Blinken will visit the mainland again to discuss some issues, the mainland has not given a clear answer, not because the mainland is pretending, but because the United States has always refused to show sincerity.
This can be proved by Biden's lack of visit to China so far, but what puzzles many people is whether Biden does not want to visit China or can't visit China?
Confrontation between China and the United States
As a senior politician in the United States, before being elected president of the United States, Biden had visited China four times in different capacities, but why did Biden not come after becoming president of the United States?
The origin of the conflict between China and the United States was the Korean War in the 50s of the last century, and Nixon's visit to China in 1972 not only quickly broke the ice in Sino-US relations, but also achieved the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, almost all US presidents have visited China, and China, as a state of etiquette, has also warmly welcomed China.
But the reason why Biden didn't come may not be because he didn't want to come, but because he couldn't help himself.
In recent years, the relationship between China and the United States has been very wonderful, especially after Biden was elected president of the United States, the US government has constantly tried to suppress and even provoke China from economic, military and territorial aspects.
In terms of economy, Biden has adopted more sanctions and scope than his predecessor Trump, and the Biden administration has not only engaged in protecting the United States' own industries in traditional trade, but also imposed a technological blockade on the mainland in chips, new energy, and military industry, suppressing the mainland's industrial development.
On the military front, the United States frequently holds military exercises with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and other countries, and whenever there is tension between China and its neighbors, the United States will find an opportunity to openly send troops to meddle in the internal affairs of China and its neighbors.
The United States has repeatedly relied on its strong military force to support other countries behind its back, which is undoubtedly a provocative act.
On the political front, the United States is even more restless, not only trying to mobilize allies in the mainland's periphery to encircle the mainland, but even repeatedly using the "Taiwan issue" in an attempt to interfere in the mainland's internal affairs.
It is precisely the United States' obstinate and willful behavior that has led to serious contradictions and differences between China and the United States.
In particular, the territorial issue has always been China's bottom line, but the United States has repeatedly intervened in the Taiwan issue and the South China Sea issue, which undoubtedly ignores Sino-US relations.
In addition to interfering in China's internal affairs, the United States has also repeatedly disseminated public opinion in the international community to slander China, from accusing China of unfounded "human rights issues" to spending a lot of time and energy fabricating the "China threat theory", all of which are undermining Sino-US relations little by little and causing Sino-US exchanges to become more and more tense.
It can be said that after Biden took office, not only did he not ease relations with China, but expanded the field of confrontation to a larger scope, so it is reasonable that Biden has not been able to visit China so far during his term of office.
Now that the U.S. election is in full swing, although Biden's approval rating is not low, Trump is definitely an opponent that cannot be ignored.
If Biden is not re-elected, then he may really become the first U.S. president to not visit China during his term after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, and if Biden wants to make up for this regret, he can only pray that he can be re-elected.
Resources:
The 37th year of the President of the United States' visit to China Road - Popular Daily
7 U.S. presidents have visited China in the past 45 years A set of precious old photos record unforgettable historical moments - Xinhua News Agency
After the phone call between the Chinese and US presidents, Yellen's visit to China this time was "unusually long" - China News Weekly
US media: Biden's approval rating is only 1% behind Trump - Global Times