It was Joe Biden’s third State of the Union address. For Vicente Palacio, foreign policy director of the Fundación Alternativas and collaborator of Agenda Pública, the best: “It has been a triumphant speech, a self-affirmation speech by the United States and also by Joe Biden’s own leadership.” The moment in which the president of the United States has addressed both houses of Congress is special. A few days ago, Pentagon fighters shot down the balloon of Chinese origin with suspicions that it was a spy device. China’s response was immediate, accusing Washington of acting disproportionately against a balloon that, according to Beijing, was a device for civilian use that strayed from its route. The tension between the two countries has been planned throughout Joe Biden’s speech. “Before I came to office, the story was that the People’s Republic of China was growing in power and the United States was falling in the world. It’s not like that. I have made it clear to President Xi that we seek competition, not conflict. I will not apologize for investing to make America strong, investing in American innovation, in future-defining industries that the Chinese government seeks to dominate,” he said.
What is the future of relations between the two countries? Is it possible that it will become so tense as to provoke a cold war similar to the one that the US and Russia waged last century? Where are the points of friction? In the video that heads this news item, Vicente Palacio analyzes Biden’s speech and explains what relations between the two countries will be like.
