One of America’s greatest rivals has been closely following the recent U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan: China.
President Biden is set to address the American people Tuesday about the pullout. However, he's already facing criticism here at home and across the pond.
“President Biden purportedly wishes to withdrawal from Afghanistan in order to concentrate on China. Yet, his actions have immediately benefited China on several fronts. China is increasingly engaged commercially in Afghanistan, and has been negotiating with the Taliban,” Lord Jock Stirrup in the United Kingdom said while in Parliament in August.
Kenny Xu, a DC-based journalist and China analyst, says the U.S. military withdrawal may empower the Chinese communist government.
“The newly Taliban-controlled Afghanistan will give China an opportunity to step in and reassert its dominance over the Middle East. This is going to cause greater global tension between the U.S. and China,” Xu said.
He says China’s president is likely to spin the chaotic pullout as a sign of American weakness.
“They want to be more aggressive on the world stage,” Xu explained. “[China is] talking about reconquering Taiwan, going and taking back the Middle East for what they see as their own interest.”
Some UK politicians are critical of the Biden administration.
“’America is Back’ now sounds rather hollow, and ‘America is backing down’ fits the case better,” Lord Peter Ricketts said earlier this month.
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the terror attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and the US service members and Afghan victims killed and wounded, in the East Room of the White House, Washington, DC on August 26, 2021.