Last week, 20 U.S. presidential hopefuls in the Democratic Party took to the debate stage in a bid to win support in what is likely to be a long campaign season. While Americans rarely make their presidential picks based on foreign policy, how presidential candidates think about U.S. ties to international partners is becoming increasingly intertwined with domestic policies, especially on the economic front.
The first two Democratic debates were held amid tense economic posturing by Washington and Beijing over trade. While further escalation appears to have been temporarily put on the back burner after a Trump-Xi meeting on the sidelines of the 2019 G-20, managing the U.S.-China relationship should remain a top priority for any U.S. president — and not only because the two countries account for nearly 40 percent of the world’s GDP. Yet Democratic presidential candidates have so far been relatively tightlipped and narrow in their assessments of China and how the relationship to Beijing fits into their vision of the United States.
The first two Democratic debates were held amid tense economic posturing by Washington and Beijing over trade. While further escalation appears to have been temporarily put on the back burner after a Trump-Xi meeting on the sidelines of the 2019 G-20, managing the U.S.-China relationship should remain a top priority for any U.S. president — and not only because the two countries account for nearly 40 percent of the world’s GDP. Yet Democratic presidential candidates have so far been relatively tightlipped and narrow in their assessments of China and how the relationship to Beijing fits into their vision of the United States.
