President Joe Biden on Sunday gave the first indications that he would not entirely reverse the tough lines adopted by the former U.S. administration toward China and Iran.
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The U.S. won’t lift sanctions against Iran to get the country back to the negotiating table on a nuclear deal, the president said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” his first televised sit-down interview since he took over last month.
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had warned before Biden spoke that his country wouldn’t start negotiating again until economic sanctions were lifted.
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Biden also said that China should brace for “extreme competition” from the U.S., but not conflict.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping “doesn’t have a democratic bone in his body,” Biden said. He added that he hasn’t spoken with Jinping, whom he once called “a thug,” since taking office
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His statement came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had warned his Chinese counterpart that Washington would “hold Beijing accountable” for human rights violations and “abuses of the international system.”
From the archives (November 2020): Biden chooses veteran diplomat Antony Blinken as secretary of state. Here’s why Europe should cheer
The outlook: Biden confirms that he is not about to totally reverse course from former President Donald Trump’s tough stance against U.S. foes. And he clearly indicated that the style of U.S. diplomacy — less confrontational — would change more than the substance.
One area where Biden is expected to be tougher than Trump is U.S. policy toward Russia. After his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly after his inauguration, Biden said he had mentioned the fate of dissident Alexei Navalny, recently sentenced to a 3½-year jail term upon his return from Germany, where he was treated for poisoning.
Read: Myanmar coup and Navalny trial will test U.S. and European policies toward economic sanctions
