Foreign policy, with no new wars on the horizon, is not a priority in any US presidential election. Americans vote on the economy and their place in that economy. Yet in 2016 Donald Trump brought in one foreign policy issue and made it a major part of his domestic economic campaign. China.

Trump beat the hell out of China for the entire campaign, still takes them over his knee on a regular basis, all the while telling us how great his good friend Xi Jinping is running China. One has to believe that Xi is about as enamoured with President Trump as a brother who has to deal with his sister's pain in the ass husband. Can't wreck the relationship so he has to go over on holidays, or in Xi's case, summit's, and take the pain.

Yet, Trump is not all bluster and buffoonery. His administration has initiated a hard line with China that is nearly a 180 degree turn from the engagement strategy of both the Bush and Obama administrations. In fairness to Hillary Clinton, she was a hawk on China, and the relationship with China would have turned frosty under her. But Trump, and his National Security team, led by Vice-President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo, are pressing China on everything from Hong Kong and Huawei to Human Rights and Military/Security issues. Trump himself is laser focused on trade and has caused the Chinese Commmunist Party great pain.

Any idea that Trump was a chump for the Chinese is now partisan ignorance. It may not be pretty, but no US President in US history is more hated by the Chinese Communist Regime than Donald Trump.

So what about Joe Biden? It's early, but none of his comments on China from his downplaying of their regional ambitions in the Pacific to his blatant mischaracterization of their military capabilities leaves anyone who is even slightly hawkish on China with a warm feeling.

Biden is open about his desire to work with the Chinese and return to Obama era engagement policies. I think he is wrong on the policies, but what worries me more is a stubbornness to not understand we are not dealing with an emerging China under Deng or Jiang. Xi Jinping is in the top job.

Anyone think Xi is not serious about replacing the US as the dominant power in Asia and then the world? Even the Bernie Sanders foreign policy folks see China as a threat to the US economy and human rights. Biden refuses to even consider the possibility of China as a threat. YouTube is full of Biden downplaying Chinese economic or aggressive foreign policy actions. Biden's outlook is not just dangerous for America, but for any of us in Asia who value freedom. It's dangerous to Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It's early in the campaign and there are quite a few spots on the Biden foreign policy roster to be filled. Former Obama National Security Staffer, Eli Ratnyer, could be an ally for freedom in a Biden administration. There are others out there, but what happened this past Thursday in a nationally broadcast speech about the Coronavirus was incredibly disheartening.

Biden repeated the CCP line that calling the Wuhan Virus the Wuhan Virus was xenophobic. In doing so Biden's comments were completely interchangeable with the statements of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman on the Wuhan Virus.

Now Biden took that position for two reasons, the first being the obsession the US democratic party has with political correctness. But worse neither Biden nor his staff saw any problem with syncing up with the Chinese Communist Party in its efforts to push away the blame for originating and mishandling of the virus that is ravaging the United States.

This was not unnoticed in Beijing. With that kowtow to Beijing Joe Biden may well have claimed some domestic political upper hand with Chinese-Americans who don't like the term "Wuhan Virus". Yet, what matters is Xi Jinping saw a kowtow.

Joe Biden has become, for now, the US Presidential candidate of choice for the Chinese Communist Party.