Global Impact | China remains a talking point as election day looms for Trump and Harris

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China was top of mind for outgoing US President Joe Biden and his administration recently, along with the increasingly related war against Ukraine by Russian forces.

With a transatlantic consensus over China’s “very substantial” support for the Kremlin’s military production base solidifying, Biden used his final speech before the United Nations to underscore a theme that he has emphasised throughout his administration: the importance of international coalitions in managing relations with China.

The speech came just three days after a Quad summit with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan – held in Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware – a gathering that underscored the US leader’s effort poured into building alliances as a bulwark against Beijing.

And while Biden has made high-level engagement with Beijing a core part of his China strategy, he again showed a willingness to take direct action against national-security threats that the country poses, by proposing new rules that would ban Chinese connectivity from US vehicles.

How much of this boils down to Biden’s own determination – as opposed to pressure from US lawmakers from both parties, who have hauled his top officials in for hearings on China – is anyone’s guess. The House of Representatives, in particular, has pushed for stricter measures than what Biden has done.

Whatever the case, building alliances and partnerships with other countries – in addition to new tariffs, export restrictions and product bans – has defined Biden’s strategy, which sought to “change the environment in which China operated” instead of relying only on tools meant to change Beijing’s behaviour.