Page 62 - bne magazine September 2021_20210901

62 Opinion bne September 2021
US president Joe Biden pulled out of Afghanistan to fully focus on his rivalry with China, but the pull out was too fast and ended in a debacle that will undermine his support in the wider showdown with Beijng.
US pulls out of Afghanistan to focus on China problem, but that is harder now
Tim Ash
of BlueBay Asset Management in London
Iheld back from commenting as did not want to get pulled into the 24 hour news cycle, but herein are a few thoughts given it was raised in the mainstream media.
First, the fact the Biden administration pulled the plug on allies and friends in Afghanistan, and against the advice of allies in NATO, just affirms its all encompassing focus on China, in foreign policy.
I think there was a perception that under Biden, there would be a softer stance there than under US president Donald Trump. Actually Trump was never ideological on China, he was always willing to cut a deal, the best deal ever, but Biden is ideological. His team have a huge issue with China – human rights, threat to US hegemony, etc. It means more tensions, risks around the US – China relationship, whether around
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trade, IP, Cyber, Taiwan, HK, Xighurs. And it is really hard to see where there could be a deal. The Biden guys really do see it as a fight for survival with China.
Second, while the domestic political consequences of this for Biden might be limited, as polls show 70% supportive of the Afghan troop withdrawal, make no mistakes this is a huge foreign policy defeat for the US.
The phased withdrawal was one thing, but the chaos of
the departure, and the subsequent collapse of the Ghani administration is on Biden’s watch. I know Biden said all US troops out by September 11 (with the ground work laid by Trump), but I think rather like Trump and Syria and Iraq, the assumption was that some minimal level of US troops would remain in small scale for training and logistics to support