In China and America, the tension is increasing day by day. American college campuses and also South China Sea both suffer from different types of crises. Furthermore, the Philippines also accused China for damaging one of its ships in the disputed waters.
China is one of the strategic competitors of the United States. This is the reason that the United States is handling China’s issues cautiously. China and the United States have had an uneasy relationship for many years. Due to this reason, the United States is dealing with difficult issues like trade and Taiwan. Additionally the new incident of the ship adds more pressure to the already tense US-China relationship.
In order to discuss the different issues, like the issue of fentanyl, and China’s military actions, including its stance on Ukraine and its activities in the South China Sea, the US Secretary of State visited China.
There is no doubt in it that China is a good competitor to the United States. At this time time a new challenge has emerged. It includes different cities of the United States making their own strategies in order to deal with China. Sometimes, they also argue with each other and also the federal government.
The recent example of this conflict is the visit of San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed to China. During her trip, she engaged in some “panda diplomacy” and arranged for San Francisco to borrow two giant pandas, using her visit to strengthen ties with China.
The United States Governor, Gavin Newsom visited China after many years. There are many people that belong to China but live in California. This is one of the major reasons that the US and China have close ties with each other. This trip was arranged to discuss the important cultural exchanges and also trade issues.
It is important to know that both nations are facing complicated trade issues. President Biden’s administration is managing tariffs (extra taxes) on certain goods, especially in technology, where there is a big competition in areas like artificial intelligence. Biden also has a desire to enhance tariffs on steel and aluminum from China.
Additionally, California also faces many complications when making deals with other countries.
One of the things California wants is more direct flights between San Francisco and cities in China. But the pilots of the United State and flight attendant unions are against adding more flights because they believe Chinese airlines have an unfair advantage by being allowed to fly over Russian airspace.
Now let’s talk about Florida state. It is taking a tough stance against China. Recently Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a law. It is related to stopping Chinese companies from doing business in the state. This law also prevents collaboration between both nations in the form of educational ties.
Furthermore, many states in the US have designed their own laws related to climate change, immigration and trade also.
According to Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution, the Federal government is responsible to to hand;e the power the power of foreign affairs. Individual states are not allowed to participate in the internal issues. Furthermore, the United State Supreme Court has also clearly announced that only national governments have permission to manage the foreign affairs. So, the power of managing the foreign affairs is beyond the reach of states.
However, the United States gave permission to many local leaders to be involved in international matters. For this purpose, the special role was created during the era of Obama. It aims to make strong connections between the federal government and local leaders.
Joe Biden also noticed that different cities and states have played a major role in handling global issues such as climate change and trade. In order to focus on local and regional diplomacy, Joe Biden also created a special office in the State department.
However, many things are getting complex due to deep political division. For example, before a national ban on TikTok was discussed, 11 states had already banned it on their own in 2023.
For the US to be strong and effective in international matters, it needs to act as one nation. If states and cities are too divided, we lose national power and other countries can take advantage. As Catherine the Great once said, “Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing.”
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