Former US President Barack Obama, speaking from Australia, has accused President Trump of being to blame for China’s hostile actions.
On Tuesday, Obama made a stop in Sydney as part of his paid speaking trip, where he discussed foreign policy for an audience.
According to the Daily Mail Australia and NCA Newswire, Obama told Australia’s former foreign minister, Julie Bishop, that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has a “forceful and confident” attitude.
The Democrat claimed that Trump’s election victory over Obama’s favored candidate, Hillary Clinton, in 2017 marked the beginning of change in China “once I left office.”
Since Obama “didn’t seem to care that much about a rules-based international system,” Xi “saw an opportunity” with his replacement, Obama said.
Obama has stated that the lack of foreign consensus on many of these problems presents an opportunity for the United States to act.
Despite his efforts to reach an agreement, President Trump spent his first four years in office engaging in a trade conflict with China, which included imposing high tariffs on imports in a purported effort to reduce an imbalance that put the United States at a disadvantage. According to Trump, his forebears, including Obama, helped China become as strong as it is today.
Trump told Fox News anchor Steve Hilton in 2019 that “they took advantage of us for many, many years.” And I put the culpability on us, not on them. President Xi has no fault in my eyes. I hold every president responsible, not just Obama. You have a deep history together. You take a look at Clinton, Bush, and everyone else in office. They let this happen, so now we have a beast on our hands. We reconstructed China because they receive so much funding.
U.S. intelligence officials are sounding the alarm that China has become the greatest national security danger to the United States more than two years into Joe Biden’s presidency (Biden acted as Obama’s vice president). The two leaders met in Moscow last week, more than a year into Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, and signed agreements strengthening economic links between their nations.
U.S.-Chinese ties are “significantly strained,” Obama allegedly said at the Australia gathering, adding that he does not expect the conflicts to “go away anytime soon.”
With regards to Beijing’s territorial conflict with many of its neighbors in Asia, Obama said, “Nor should they,” citing basic differences in the way the two countries function in the South China Sea.
Obama has stated that he does not believe it is in China’s best interest for the country to begin asserting sovereignty over seas that have traditionally been considered international.