Washington, United States.
Joe Biden has decided not to beat around the bush. The American president accused Vladimir Putin of being a “murderer” and his team received a Chinese delegation with a volley of accusations, an undiplomatic style that illustrates her willingness to oppose the “autocrats
Perhaps a more traditional foreign policy was expected from the longtime senator and then vice president, after his predecessor Donald Trump’s inconvenient tweets and thunderous formulas.
But the first two months of his tenure, and even more so in recent days, have set a strong tone.
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When a journalist asked him if he thought the Russian president was “a murderer”, Joe Biden He replied in the affirmative without hesitation.
And for those who asked about a possible slip, the White House He assured the president that he did not regret his words.
This is not the first time that the Democrat has spoken harsh words to the head of the Kremlin.
“I told the president clearly Putin, in a very different way than my predecessor, than then U.S subject to the aggressive acts of Russia (…) it was over, ” he said in early February, shortly after the first phone call between the two.
Biden showed the same steadfastness to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping“It’s very difficult,” “it doesn’t have an ounce of democracy,” she said of him in February.
“If we don’t act, they will crush us,” he added a few days later, after a two-hour marathon call with his counterpart.
– America’s “values” –
Although this blunt language sometimes reminds you of Trump, the context is very different.
“Trump had personal affinities with autocrats, with ‘strong men.’ He admired them,” said Thomas Wright, a think tank member. Brookings Institution.
Trump actually had a bigger problem with allies from U.SHe loved his allies more than his rivals. ‘
Ever since he took power in January, Joe Biden and his team have worked to seduce friends Washington and hate the “authoritarianism” of it Moscow Y Beijing
The harsh words are part of this strategy and of a foreign policy that has made the defense of human rights and the “values” of it U.S a priority.
“They are concerned about the advancement of authoritarianism and think democracies need to work more closely together to counter it,” Wright told AFP.
The American president he also wants to organize a “summit of democracies” for an unspecified date.
Perhaps the most surprising is that of his secretary StateAntony Blinken, a sometimes retired, old-fashioned diplomat, greeted the ministers China foreign relations Thursday in Alaska with an offensive speech accusing Beijing, in front of cameras around the world, of “a threat to world stability.”
“These manners are far from diplomatic etiquette!” China
For Thomas Wright “this shows the relationship between U.S Y China it is determined by rivalry and competition. ”
According to James Carafano of the conservative Heritage Foundation, Blinken was “absolutely right” to be so steadfast and the Biden administration has nothing to lose by being so stubborn.
“Be tough Russia The China it gathers consensus on both the Democratic and Republican side. Everyone wants to be tough “against these opponents U.S, he points out.
Carafano also notes that there is great continuity between the Democrats’ early acts and those of the former Republican administration, which had opposed the two rival powers even as President Trump tried to “ make friends’ ‘with Vladimir Putin o Xi Jinping.