Nong Hong

Opinion | US-China relations: how Joe Biden’s return to multilateralism can revive climate change cooperation

Multilateralism and international cooperation have faded as vehicles for global action in the public interest in recent years. It is time to encourage effective multilateralism as a vital tool in meeting our many global challenges

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Nong Hong

Published: 1:00am, 3 Feb 2021Updated: 11:16am, 18 Feb 2021

On Day 1 of his administration, US President Joe Biden moved to undo the most damaging aspects of Donald Trump’s legacy and started to reverse many of the previous president’s policies, particularly on the environment, immigration and restoring federal efforts to promote diversity.

As of January 29, Biden had made almost 40 executive orders, some reversing Trump’s executive orders and some Trump-era policy. Even before his inauguration, Biden sent a clear message of embracing multilateralism again.

Multilateralism is an important element of foreign policy of small or middle powers; however, it is caught up in the competition between the United States and China. Will multilateralism shift the trajectory of US-China relations?

During the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jinping highlighted the importance of multilateralism and called for upholding the international system with the UN at its core.

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China’s campaign to increase its influence on the global stage comes at a time when the Trump administration retreated from multilateral diplomacy, including leaving the Paris climate accord and shredding multilateral trade pacts. Trump also pulled the United States out of Unesco and the UN-supported Human Rights Council.