Joe Biden’s Job Killing Record On China

Throughout Joe Biden’s political career he has continuously pushed policies beneficial to China to the determent of the United States. In 2000, he voted to approve Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China, which would accelerate the loss of American jobs to China.

But Biden’s history of misreading China starts far earlier in his Washington career. Biden’s first visit to China was in 1979, a fact he often highlights in interviews and speeches, seemingly oblivious to the economic damage his pro-China policies have inflicted on the United States economy and the prosperity of the American People. In August of 2011, Vice President Biden was invited to give remarks to the students of Sichuan University in China. His remarks clearly elucidate his thinking:

“On my first visit to China, which was more than 30 years ago when I was a young United States senator in 1979, I was with the first delegation of congressional leaders to visit China after normalization. We had several days of business with then Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping. It was a very different country then, but what was absolutely clear to me was that China was on the cusp of a remarkable transformation.

Changes were just getting underway. My first introduction here in Sichuan that would begin transforming a largely agrarian society into an engine of economic global and help lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty was — seemed to me clear at the time. That first visit came amid a debate in the United States of America similar to the one that exists today about how to view China’s emergence. Let me be clear — let me be clear: I believed in 1979 and said so and I believe now that a rising China is a positive development, not only for the people of China but for the United States and the world as a whole.”

And, importantly, he continues to add:

“A rising China will fuel economic growth and prosperity and it will bring to the fore a new partner with whom we can meet global challenges together. When President Obama and I took office in January of 2009, we made our relationship with China a top priority. We were determined to set it on a stable and sustainable course that would benefit the citizens of both our countries.”

Again, in 2012, Biden makes his point painfully clear, speaking with Chinese Vice President Xi in Washington, DC:

“Let me be clear: I believe, as the President said also to the Vice President in the Oval Office not long ago, we believe that a rising China is a positive development — not only for China but also for the United States and the world. It will fuel economic growth and prosperity, and a rising China will bring to the fore a new partner with whom we can have help meeting the global challenges we all face.”

So, has how has Joe Biden’s “top priority” worked out for the American People? Not well.

According to one Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report, the United States has lost over 3.7 million jobs between 2001 and 2018 alone, due to our massive (and growing) trade deficit with China, including 2.8 million American manufacturing jobs lost to China. Furthermore, American workers have seen their paychecks wither and wages lessen, significantly. In fact, the same EPI report shows that American workers lost over $180 billion in reduced wages in 2011 alone.

Readers can learn more about Biden’s many failures on China here.