拜登再谈中美关系：我不会像特朗普一样处理中美关系，将专注国际规则

President Joe Biden is aware of the significance of the U.S. relationship with China, but his administration is going to navigate foreign policy on its own terms.

"We need not have a conflict, but there’s going to be extreme competition," Biden said to anchor Norah O’Donnell in an interview to air in full Sunday evening on CBS Evening News. Referring to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, he said, "I’m not going to do it the way that he knows. And that’s because he’s sending signals as well. I’m not going to do it the way Trump did."

China’s relationship with America "is probably one of the most important in the entire world," O’Donnell said. Xi’s growing power will be extremely important to Biden’s foreign policy agenda. Most Europeans believe China will surpass the U.S. as the most powerful nation in 10 years. Last year, EU-China trade from January to September surpassed $516 billion, far more than that between Europe and the U.S. during the same period.

When O’Donnell asked why Biden has not yet spoken with Xi since taking office last month, he told the anchor about his past experiences engaging with China’s leader during his visits to China in 2011 and 2013, and later when Xi came to Iowa in 2015.

"We haven’t had occasion to talk to him yet," Biden said. "There’s no reason not to call him. I probably spent more time with Xi Jinping, I’m told, than any world leader has, because I had 24, 25 hours of private meetings with him when I was vice president. Traveled 17,000 miles with him. I know him pretty well."

Biden has said his strategy toward China will be to "focus on international rules of the road," meaning he will rely on global partners to collectively confront China’s growing global dominance.

Meanwhile the Biden administration is already receiving signals of growing tensions between the two nations. On Inauguration Day, China issued a list of sanctions against 28 officials who served under former President Donald Trump, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Last week, Yang Jiechi, Xi’s senior diplomat, issued a pointed warning to Biden not to cross a "red line" and interfere in "China’s core interests." In a similar incident, Secretary of State Antony Blinken received criticism after he commented to NBC News that China has acted "egregiously" to curb freedoms in Hong Kong. China said "foreign interference" into its internal affairs would not be welcome. Taiwan has also called for closer security ties with the U.S., a move that could provoke further escalations with China.

Biden told O’Donnell that he and Xi had "a lot to talk about."

"He’s very bright. He’s very tough. He doesn’t have—and I don’t mean it as a criticism, just the reality—he doesn’t have a democratic, small D, bone in his body," Biden said of Xi.”