MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: The administration of US President Joe Biden will increase pressure on China in a number of areas, Director of the Institute of the Far East at the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Maslov said during an online conference organized by the Valdai Discussion Club and the Center for Russia-China Strategic Interaction under the CITIC Foundation for Reform and Development Studies of China.
"There will be pressure in several main areas," the expert said, noting that the US will do everything to prevent the Chinese from entering the high-tech sphere, namely hindering the implementation of the Made in China 2025 strategy. "Most importantly, it won’t let China offer its high technology to, first and foremost, Western European countries, as well as African and Latin American states. This policy was started under former President Donald Trump, and it will continue now," he stated.
Besides, the expert noted that the US would continue to carry out the policy of containment when it comes to China as a military factor. He pointed out that in this context, Washington will consider Beijing together with Moscow. France and Germany also see Russia and China as a united source of a military threat, Maslov added.
"The US will try to shape a global opinion of China’s economic initiatives being potentially threatening. We can also see that there is a rise in criticism of the Chinese cyber-currency," the expert stated. He also pointed out that the US administration would use the human rights rhetoric as a means of pressuring China. Nevertheless, Washington will continue trade talks with Beijing, but it will accompany it with public criticism of China’s stance, Maslov said.
A security alliance
The expert added that in the sphere of security, the US is trying to build a global regulation system through conflict management. "The US is trying to surround Russia and China with groups of conflicts. It is trying to impose a new global control system through conflict management," he pointed out. "And so far, Russia and China are in the position of defending or justifying themselves. In my opinion, a joint Russian-Chinese concept is a very important step to stabilize the world right now."
According to Maslov, Moscow and Beijing must think of establishing a joint system of comprehensive security, which would cover other areas along with the military sphere, such as energy, banking, transmission of information. "Thus, Russia and China can offer a new concept of global stability through a new security concept," Maslov concluded. "This is what the US fails to offer right now, and it seems that it has no plans to offer it.".
