Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

With news breaking yesterday that China has begun expelling American journalists, the question of how we deal with the communist nation moving forward becomes very important.

For example, I’ve been suggesting for a long time that it’s time to get tough with China, extricate ourselves from our economic dependency on them, and let them sink or swim on their own. There’s simply no long term upside to enriching an oppressive communist regime intent on world domination. China is absolutely the largest geopolitical threat the United States faces (yes, far more than Russia).

Policy decisions that will have to be made once the Wuhan coronavirus subsides also play directly into the 2020 presidential race. Who is most apt to get tough on China? Who’s been on the wrong side of the issues regarding our relationship with them?

Sen. Tom Cotton wrote an editorial that got lost in the fray but perfectly answers those questions.

A must-read, ICYMI, from @TomCottonAR: "Joe Biden Is China’s Choice for President” https://t.co/4IZUaqyhY1 — Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) March 18, 2020

And Joe Biden? Well, he’s on China’s side — not yours. Despite the occasional box-checking, wishy-washy comment slapping Beijing on the wrist for the worst of its abuses, the reality is that the former vice president’s support of the People’s Republic of China is deep and longstanding. In the critical fight over whether to grant most-favored-nation trade status and World Trade Organization membership to China in the 1990s — a fight in which, again, many of his party’s leaders in Congress were on the right side — Biden carefully shepherded China through the process from his powerful perch as the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Wherever a brake might have been applied — by placing human-rights or labor conditions on most-favored-nation status, for example — Biden voted the measures down and lobbied other senators for Beijing. Unfortunately, China and Biden got their way, and American workers are still suffering from it.

Cotton goes on to hit some more recent statements by Biden as well.

Meanwhile, Biden offers gems like these on the campaign trail. From May: “China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man. They’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what? They’re not competition for us.” And just the next month: “Our workers are literally three times as productive as workers . . . in Asia. So what are we worried about?”

Biden has been fluffing the Chinese since he announced his campaign. He’s consistently downplayed their threat, signaled he’ll throw away all the U.S.’s leverage, and simply maintain the status quo, which is how we got to where we are in the first place.

Lastly, Cotton nails Biden for decrying the China travel ban as “hysterical xenophobia,” a statement that should completely disqualify the former VP at this point.

And when a few weeks ago President Trump acted to impose travel restrictions on China as a consequence of its abysmal handling of the Wuhan coronavirus, Biden was right there and ready to act as Beijing’s lawyer, slamming the policy as “hysterical xenophobia.” Now, even the New York Times concedes that these measures bought the United States valuable time to prepare for an epidemic.

We now know that the early ban on travel to and from China has probably saved thousands of lives. It bought us precious time, time that we wouldn’t have had if the virus had been allowed to propagate from China in early February. Biden opposed it because he’s always been a hack when it comes to China. Well, that and he wants to be “woke.”

It’s time Biden answers for his past when it comes to China and is held accountable for his most recent statements on the matter. Is he going to take a hard line with China if he’s elected? History says no and there’s little doubt the communists will do everything they can to ensure a Biden victory in November.

In the last 40 years, it’s hard to find someone who’s been as wrong about as much as Joe Biden has. His policies and opinions on China are no exception. Cognitive issues aside, this guy doesn’t need to be anywhere near the presidency.

Front-page contributor for RedState. Visit my archives for more of my latest articles and help out by following me on Twitter @bonchieredstate. Read more by Bonchie