Biden US will work with allies to face competition from China: Psaki

The Joe Biden administration will work with US allies to deal with challenges posed by China that include threats to the United States' alliances, a senior White House official said Monday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also highlighted the need for a new "strategy" to deal with China.

"We are in serious competition with China," Psaki told a press briefing, adding China's conduct "hurts American workers, our technological edge and threatens our alliances and our influence in international organizations."

"What we have seen over the last few years is that China is growing more authoritarian at home and more assertive abroad, and Beijing is now challenging our security, prosperity and values in significant ways that require a new US approach," she added.

The White House official noted the country's basic approach toward China remains unchanged, despite the recent change in administration.

"I think our approach to China remains what it has been for the last months if not longer," she said when asked if the new administration may reconsider the import tariffs on Chinese goods placed by the former Donald Trump administration. Joe Biden took office on Wednesday.

"As is the case with other areas of our relationship with China, he (Biden) will take a multilateral approach to engaging with China, and that includes evaluating the tariffs currently in place," she added.

Psaki said the Biden administration's new approach will be a multilateral one.

"We wanted to engage more with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to discuss the path forward, and most importantly we want to discuss this with our allies," she said.

The former Trump administration too had sought to work with US allies in dealing with what it called "aggression from China's communist party," but the move had often put pressure on US allies, especially those in Asia, since China is often the largest trading partner of US allies in Asia, including South Korea.

Psaki said the new administration will approach the China issue with "strategic patience."

"The president is committed to stopping China's economic abuses on many fronts, and the most effective way to do that is through working in concert with our allies and partners to do exactly that," she said.

"We want to approach this with some strategic patience and we want to conduct reviews internally through our interagency," she added. (Yonhap)