Sino-American competition since 2017: is there a U.S. foreign policy consensus and continuity on China?

The study explores and compares common themes in Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s foreign policies vis-à-vis China. It investigates whether there have been diverging perceptions on the level of threat Beijing poses and what strategy is needed to counter that challenge. The paper answers to what extent the Biden administration's China strategy reflected the enduring impact of the Trump administration. The article loosely employs two theoretical frameworks—liberal internationalism and structural realism—before asserting that both the Trump and Biden administrations framed the China challenge in competitive terms, indicating a marked shift from the long-standing engagement framework. Major policy responses of the Biden administration have also reflected the growing consensus across administrations on confronting China strategically. Although there are striking similarities in Trump and Biden’s hardline approach toward China, there are notable differences, too, in their competitive policies toward Beijing, owing to diverging views on multilateralism, bilateral cooperation and democratic engagement.