In a parting shot, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced a slew of major foreign policy actions that will have lasting impact on the incoming Joe Biden administration. As observers note, they will complicate Biden’s efforts to reset global relations.

According to the Washington Post, the new announcements “cement Trump priorities and create roadblocks to new directions charted by the incoming Biden team.” The decisions include relisting Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, designating the armed Houthi rebels in Yemen as terrorists, introducing new sanctions on Iran and recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Biden officials, who believe the actions to be motivated by “domestic politics” and markers for the next election campaign, have refrained from speaking out against them amid the transition in leadership.

While Biden shares concerns about Beijing’s territorial and trade aggression, instead of continuing the Trump administration’s hardline approach, he hopes to reevaluate the situation and confront Beijing with like-minded democracies, said the report. The incoming president is also placed in a tough spot –should he reverse key decisions, such as reinstating restrictions on interactions between U.S. and Taiwan officials, he would be seen as “pro-China.”

While tensions between Washington and Beijing may cool down in the near future under the new administration, “there is no going back in U.S.-China relations,” Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told The Beijing News. American politicians have reached a consensus on China and the Biden administration also views it as America’s greatest strategic competitor, he added.

Occupied by domestic issues, it would be impossible for Biden to reverse the many executive orders Trump made against China, said Yuan. He also expected his administration to step up pressure on China over human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.

In the long term, U.S.-China relations will be more complicated as both countries become more wary of each other. The key is if the U.S. can accept China’s growing influence and forge a win-win relationship with Beijing, he said.

Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai’s Fudan University, said Biden will adopt Trump’s tone towards China as it has become “politically correct” in American society.

However, despite the competition, the new cabinet will work with Beijing on issues such as climate change, public health and Iran’s nuclear problem. As Biden’s diplomatic team is staffed with professional envoys with more diplomatic experience, they are also expected to bring more stability and certainty to U.S.-China relations, he added.

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