Biden’s Farewell Speech
US President Joe Biden delivered a farewell speech of about 17 minutes on Wednesday evening (January 15). In his speech, he warned that the “oligarchy” and “tech-industrial complex” that are forming in the United States may harm the country. He also summarized his achievements during his tenure, including strengthening the NATO alliance, supporting Ukraine in defending freedom, and putting the United States in a leading position in the competition with China.
Biden will officially step down next Monday. This is his last speech in the Oval Office of the White House as president.
Warning that “oligarchy” and “tech-industrial complex” threaten American democracy
For the domestic politics of the United States, Biden mentioned in his speech that the formation of “oligarchy” is threatening the democratic system, basic rights, and fair development opportunities in the United States. He said that he pointed out that this extreme concentration of power and wealth is eroding the social structure, “threatening our entire democratic system, basic rights and freedoms, and people’s fair development opportunities.”
He also warned that the potential rise of the “tech-industrial complex” may also bring greater dangers to the United States. Biden said that “Americans are being overwhelmed by a flood of false information,” which has also contributed to the abuse of power and eroded press freedom. He criticized “social media for abandoning fact-checking, and the truth will be covered up by lies woven by power and interests,” and called on American society to hold social platforms accountable to “ensure that democracy is not abused by power.”
NATO, Ukraine, and the achievements of the US-China competition
In reviewing his foreign policy, Biden said that NATO has been significantly strengthened during his tenure, Ukraine remains free, and the United States is in a leading position in the competition with China. He also specifically mentioned the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, saying that it was the result of his government’s mediation and hoped that the new government would continue to implement it.
Biden mentioned China twice in his farewell speech. He said that during his tenure, “the United States is more advanced in the competition with China”; when discussing the importance of artificial intelligence, he emphasized the need to ensure that “it is the United States, not China, that leads in the field of artificial intelligence.”
Earlier, in his farewell speech on foreign policy held on Monday (January 13), Biden bluntly stated that compared with the beginning of his tenure, the United States is now “in a better strategic position” in the economic competition with China. Biden said that in the past, some experts predicted that China’s economy would eventually surpass that of the United States, but after he took office, “China will never be able to surpass us.”
Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not respond directly at a regular press conference on Tuesday but pointed out that over the past four years, although Sino-US relations have experienced ups and downs, they have been generally stable. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, “more than 20 communication mechanisms have been restored and newly established, and results have been achieved in some areas.”
Attention and reaction of Chinese public opinion: Anti-US is still the main theme
Biden’s speech has attracted the attention of many Chinese netizens on Weibo. As of Wednesday evening Beijing time, the topic #Biden delivered a farewell speech has been read more than 27.5 million times and once ranked eighth on the hot search list.
Shen Yi, a professor of international politics at Fudan University in Shanghai, who has 1.91 million Weibo fans and is known for his anti-US remarks, wrote an article to sarcastically comment on Biden’s mention of the ceasefire and hostage agreement reached by Israel and Kazakhstan in his speech, saying that this was his “grabbing credit, digging pits, and laying mines, all in one go.” In the future, “if peace can be implemented, it will be Biden’s credit, and if it is not implemented, it will be Trump’s problem.”
The official media “Reference News” also published an article pointing out that Biden’s speech emphasized that “the ceasefire is the credit of my government, and the implementation depends on the next term.”
Scholars’ view: American democracy shows its resilience in the swing between the two extremes
Shanghai international relations scholar Shen Dingli pointed out in an interview with Voice of America that Biden’s statement that China cannot surpass the United States is actually similar to Trump’s statement of “making America great again,” both of which reflect their anxiety about China’s rising competitiveness.
As for Biden’s warning about the harm caused by the “tech-industrial complex,” Shen Dingli believes that this echoes Trump’s previous remarks against the media and technology giants. He said that although American politics swings between the two extremes, such adjustments and reflections reflect the self-correction ability of the system.
“The United States is gradually moving out of extremes and moving to a better state. The extreme Trump brings the extreme Biden and then brings a less extreme Trump. Through such bipolar fluctuations, the United States gradually moves towards small fluctuations and returns to normal common sense and rationality, so I think the United States is making progress.” He said.
Chen Wenjia, director of the National and Regional Research and Development Center at Kainan University in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, pointed out in an email to VOA that Biden’s warnings about “oligarchy” are deafening, but his lack of practical actions to address the gap between the rich and the poor and regulate technology monopolies exposes the structural reform dilemma of his administration.
But Chen Wenjia also believes that Biden’s achievements, such as creating 17 million jobs and setting a new record for health insurance coverage, while convincing, avoided some major controversies during his tenure, such as the chaos of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the protracted consumption of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the complexity of the situation in the Middle East.
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