China | Decoding America’s election

Ambiguity or madness? Where Harris and Trump stand on China

The vice-president makes no promise to defend Taiwan; her rival boasts of being crazy

Kamala Harris stands at the podium with the Chinese flag in the background. A silhouette of Donald Trump faces her.
Illustration: Chloe Cushman
|WASHINGTON

THROUGHOUT HER campaign, Kamala Harris has hewed to the foreign policy of President Joe Biden. But there is a little daylight between the two in at least one important area: America’s relations with China. To judge by her limited remarks on the topic, Ms Harris seems less hawkish than her boss. She is reluctant to treat China as an actual or potential enemy and, if elected, hopes to maintain a dialogue with its leader, Xi Jinping. Unlike her rival, Donald Trump, she is not interested in a trade war. This impression was reinforced by a senior adviser who told The Economist: “Conflict is not imminent. Our job is to ensure that it is not imminent.”

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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Ambiguity or madness? ”

From the October 26th 2024 edition

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