Donald Trump has attempted to develop foreign policy that is harsh on the Chinese government. Critically, however, his policies leave out an important mechanism to limit the growth of China's influence in the South China Sea. Joe Biden presents an answer to this issue and is thus a better option for President if limiting China's power is the goal. Historically, the United States has been the dominant power in the South China Sea, but following the rise of China, tensions have increased. Many have suggested that China’s rapid militarization in the region is the reason for the loss of American power. However, this is not the origin of America’s diminishing power. The origin of America’s diminishing power stems from the Chinese Communist Parties establishment of the Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative focuses on investing in developing countries to gain political and economic influence. Investments from the initiative tend to centre around countries near China, including the South China Sea.





To demonstrate the extent of resources available for China's Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese government possess the largest national development bank in the world the China Development Bank (CDB). The CDB holds two trillion in assets and is four times larger than the next biggest national development. This entity is only a limited portion of the total resources China has access to regarding funding development.

How then can this increase in Chinese influence be slowed? The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), in its original form, would have according to James Gottschalk, “hamstrung, to some degree, many of China's larger ambitions that are now in the works,” including the Belt and Road Initiative. Why then was TPP never ratified? According to Donald Trump TPP was cancelled to support “the American worker”, but in reality, this action was the biggest American foreign policy blunder since the end of the George W. Bush’s time in office. This action was also, most likely, because of Donald Trump’s need to end any Obama era policies and partnerships. The Obama administration pushed extremely hard for the development of TPP, this was because the administration understood TPP was the best possible response to the increases in investment on behalf of the Chinese government. The partnership would have limited the growth of China’s influence in the South China Sea because TPP forces the countries involved to become economically dependent on exports to the United States. Without this dependence America has no influence in limiting Chinese investment, therefore TPP is necessary to limit China’s growth in influence. This suggests that Trump's policies are not as hard on China as he would like you to believe. Trump will be running against Joe Biden in the upcoming election. Biden, formerly the Vice President in the Obama administration possess a strong understanding of the significance of TPP and had significant input on the original negotiations. Biden would utilize this knowledge and would most likely develop foreign policy tools similar to those used in TPP. Besides Trumps inability to agree with any Obama era policy, what is the logic behind Trump's reason for not ratifying TPP? As previously stated, Trump believes TPP is bad for “the American worker”. The logic behind his statement is that in establishing free trade through TPP, importing goods becomes cheaper than manufacturing domestically. This then reduces the need for American manufacturing, leading to losses in American jobs thereby hurting the American economy. The issue with this logic is that though jobs will be lost because TPP, many will also be gained. TPP would allow for countries like New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and Japan to have easier access to American produced goods. In conclusion, the rapid militarization of the Chinese military in the South China Sea is not the cause of America's loss of power in the region. The loss in power is the result of China’s Belt and Road Initiatives. The best way to counter these gains is to renegotiate TPP. Trump is unwilling to accomplish the task. He will not do what is needed to limit the growth of China’s influence in the South China Sea. Therefore, Trump should not be re-elected as the President of the United States. Joe Biden, instead, would renegotiate TPP, thereby, limiting China’s future gains in influence and thus suggesting that Biden would be a better option for President of the United States.