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U.S., China Could Heal Rift By Cooperating on Climate Change, Says Rudd

U.S., China Could Heal Rift By Cooperating on Climate Change, Says Rudd

President-elect Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping can begin to mend their nations’ fractious relationship by avoiding any provocation on Taiwan or the region’s disputed waters, Australia’s former prime minister Kevin Rudd said.

The two could also cooperate on fighting the effects of climate change, Rudd, now the president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said in an interview Tuesday at the New Economy Forum.

U.S., China Could Heal Rift By Cooperating on Climate Change, Says Rudd

“China wants to act, but it realizes that China’s national actions will be inconsequential in the absence of global action,” he said. “That’s why China wishes to engage the Americans and why the Biden administration will want to engage the Chinese.”

The incoming U.S. government is also expected to change direction on trade and to “open up markets rather than to close them down,” Rudd said. The U.S. could leverage what President Donald Trump has gained from Beijing to create “more of a level playing field” so that others can fairly compete with China.

The New Economy Forum is organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.