China will have to play by rules, says Biden

US President-elect Joe Biden has said that he wants to make sure that China plays by the rules and announced that his administration will rejoin the World Health Organisation.

In April, President Donald Trump announced that the US world would withdraw from the WHO, accusing the UN organisation for failing to oversee the onset of the coronavirus as it began to spread in China.

“It’s not so much about punishing China, it’s about making sure China understands they’ve got to play by the rules. It’s a simple proposition,” Biden said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of governors in his hometown in Wilmington, Delaware.

He said that is one of the reasons why his administration is going to rejoin the World Health Organisation.

“We’re going to rejoin on day one as well and it needs reform, acknowledge, and rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. And we have to make sure that the rest of the world and we get together and make sure there are certain right lines the Chinese understand,” Biden, a Democrat, said.

During his tenure, Trump, a Republican, pushed aggressively on all aspects of US-China ties, including with his relentless trade war, challenging China’s military hold on the disputed South China Sea, its constant threats to Taiwan and branding coronavirus as “China virus” after it emerged from Wuhan in December last year.