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00:00The other side of that conversation is a bit more concerning, as the Chinese defense minister says, the Taiwan issue is a red line that cannot be crossed. Are you disappointed to hear that kind of language following the meeting between President Biden and President Xi? I'm not because that's the Chinese view that's been their view ever since Taiwan has been an issue. It is to the Chinese. Taiwan is existential. It's non-negotiable. It's a red line. That's just where they are. And the real key here is for both sides not to trip the wire. That's going to cause some kind of military action one way or the other. And that's the big issue here. General Austin made that point that the Chinese general made that point. That is, you tack it saying you on the other side, you're you're causing problems. Well, each side thinks that so and each side knows that. So therefore, it's up to each side. You know that cooler heads prevail. Let's not do something that's kind of stupid. Secretary Austen is in Cambodia for this meeting with his counterpart, aimed at what we are hearing is described as stabilizing our relationship. How would you describe our relationship right now? I think it's much better. We were in a near freefall. It really began with Grant always some time, then accelerated in Anchorage. When Tony Blinken on one hand and a young teacher on the other virtually attacked each other and said that her sense. But I think both countries realized that they need each other. We need China. China needs us. And President Xi Jinping wants to stabilize the relationship with certainly we America want to maintain our national security. But I think that the the Bali meeting between President Xi and President Biden really kind of set the floor, at least I hope so. And a lot of meetings on the sides of that, not just Xi and Biden, but also Vice President Harris met with the G and Austin meeting with his counterpart. Chinese agreed to restart a climate talks. So there are lots of indications that things are starting to get a little better. The relationship started to warm up a little bit, but obviously there are huge issues ahead. The main point is I think that we're maybe on the cusp of a new situation where both countries are starting to be more mature in managing the relationship, be more honest about it, recognizing that either country is going away. We're both going to be here. So let's figure out a way to deal with this. Well, that's right. And look, President Biden continues to say that the one China policy remains intact, that nothing has changed. The secretary of state has made that clear. But but Joe Biden, as an individual, whether he a broader here at home, continues to talk like it is changing. How would you advise the administration to conduct itself in a more mature way? To your point, how should we be messaging that? Well, make sure that we are adhering to the one China policy, not only in words, but also in deed. And I think there's an opportunity here. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill that's called a Time Warner Policy Act, which really digs at China even more respect to Taiwan. And I think the administration thinks that bill goes too far. If administration could indicate that maybe that goes to be amended or not passed, that will send a very strong signal to both Taiwan and enter the United States and to China that, hey, maybe we're good. We're going to make sure whatever we do is not going to be something is going to be unnecessarily upsetting. Well, Speaker Pelosi is certainly upset some people that that was a seismic moment when she touched down in Taiwan. I was the speaker of the House, though. There are a lot of other coattails that that had over there. Kevin McCarthy, the incoming Republican speaker, has said for months that he plans to bring a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan if these visits continue. What does that do to the relationship? Does that increase the temperature? Well, Speaker Pelosi's visit, especially because, after all, she is the speaker. She's DAX line of the president's. That's much different than other visits. And also, she's very striking about it. That was upset the Chinese, whether maybe McCarthy be speaker, we'll see. But if he if he goes, they'll cause some of the same problems. I doubt Speaker McCarthy is going to go to Taiwan very quickly. He may take his side about this. You don't think that would help? It sounds like, well, no. MCCARTHY Well, that just makes it worse. Frankly, administration urged Speaker Pelosi not to go. I'm told, frankly, that Taiwan president's I went also urged Speaker Pelosi not to go, but she wanted to go. And frankly, Kevin McCarthy is little bit different than Rosie, is she? She is more of a cost person. She want to do it. Yes. But McCarthy is a little bit more of a politician. He's going to consider all the different ramifications. And her language, to your point, was strident. But that's a bit of news, Ambassador. The administration has said that it did not tell Nancy Pelosi or ask Nancy Pelosi not to go. And we certainly not heard that from Taipei. They rolled out the red carpet for real once they arrived. Let's big arrived after all the red basket red, I'm told by well-placed people. I think no one I trust that the president cited when preferred that she not come because a presence I went nose the Pelosi visit really stirring things up. Probably not in a good way. Yeah, well, that's so fascinating. Inside information, Ambassador Covid restrictions are a big part of the story, of course, right now in China, as you well know. And we're seeing a huge source surge, I should say, in cases here. Health officials say they are sticking with their Covid zero policy, which is now affecting about a fifth of the Chinese economy. That, of course, has reverberations around the world and certainly here in the U.S.. When will China join the United States in essentially moving beyond Covid? It's a big issue for President Xi Jinping. He's made his bed with zero Covid policy and he's kind of stuck with it. It's going to be difficult to save face and yet it's changed the climate policy. But it's because we were told it's cause untold economic harm to not only China but to most parts of the world. They might understand is a trying to relax it, but unfortunately, a lot more Covid cases now, which makes that relaxation much more difficult. But they're trying to relax it. So what do they need? Do we need a partnership on vaccines? That's something the U.S. can do. Well, ISE is really weird. I'm a real outlier here. When Covid developed in China, we first learned about it. I thought, gee, I state should I should send some vaccine over. With China. Say, we'll work with you. President Trump ought to do that. But no, no, no. The situation was too hawkish. Did I do that? We could help with vaccines. There are some European vaccines that China is not accepting for foreigners. We also need they need vaccines, especially for senior citizens, too. I think most of the seniors above 60 years of age had not been vaccinated or maybe just one shot. They need to develop a very good vaccine that works. And once they get that place, then they can start to open up more easily that they're those adult proud. They're too proud. They should open up more and take more foreign vaccines. But remember, it's a huge country. One point four billion people in China. That's that's a big order. You just said a lot of that statement. Ambassador, while you're here, I have to ask you about what's happening on Capitol Hill as we come off the midterm elections. Now a Democratic Senate and a Republican House. You've served in a Democratic led Senate with a Republican House. And I wonder what you think, if anything, will get done in the next two years in this next session, or is the store closed? You know, I'm a bit of a view this goes against the tide. When I was in Congress, I felt that generally more was done when there was divided government because then you have to compromise. We want to get something done. We're the same party is in power. White said both buys. Then the other party is very upset. It throws wrenches in the gears and stops things considerably. Right now, I think clearly it's very political. We're entering 2020 for a presidential year and the Republicans in the Senate are going to hold lots investigations trying to embarrass Democrats. That's going to happen. It just gets given. I'll also, with all the presidential candidates running, go pretty hawkish on China. It will force the Congress to also be somewhat hawkish on China. China policy is such essentially determined by domestic politics in the United States today. Whether our senator, another Democrat, you've got to be really hawkish on China if you want to get re-elected. That's just the way it is. It's unfortunate. I think we're too hawkish. Nobody dares raise his head or her head. It sets up even a constructive year of having his or her head chopped off. So it's it's it's it's a China. It's going to loom large as well.

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The US-China Relationship Is Maturing, Baucus Says

Max Baucus, a former US Ambassador to China, says the US-China relationship is improving after President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping met face-to-face. He also talks about the importance of Taiwan to the relationship. He's on "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)