A COMPARISON OF TRUMP AND BIDEN’S POLICIES ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN XINJIANG FROM AN IDEOSYNCRATIC PERSPECTIVE
Abstract
Studies on the United States’ response to human rights violations in Xinjiang have tended to emphasize structural factors, such as great power rivalry, international norms, and foreign policy instruments, while the role of presidential leadership as an analytical variable has been relatively neglected. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a comparative analysis of the United States’ foreign policy toward human rights violations in Xinjiang during the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations using an idiosyncratic approach. This approach places the leader’s personality, ideological orientation, and policy context as key factors in the foreign policy decision-making process. Research data was collected through a literature review of scientific journals, books, official reports, presidential speeches, and US foreign policy documents from 2017 to 2024. The results show that policies during the Trump era were unilateral and confrontational, marked by the imposition of economic sanctions and harsh rhetoric against China. In contrast, the Biden administration adopted a multilateral and diplomatic approach, emphasizing international cooperation and coordination with allies. These findings confirm that differences in leadership character significantly influence the direction and instruments of U.S. foreign policy, even within the same strategic competition context.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Afriandi, E., & Hati, A. P. (2022). Telaah Kritis Organisasi Kerjasama Islam ( OKI ) dan World Uyghur Congress (WUC) Terhadap Pelanggaran HAM yang terjadi pada etnis Uighur China. Himmah: Jurnal Islam Kontemporer, 6(1), 520–539.
Al Syahrin, M. N. (2018). China Versus Amerika Serikat: Interpretasi Rivalitas Keamanan Negara Adidaya Di Kawasan Asia Pasifik. Jurnal Global & Strategis, 12(1), 145. https://doi.org/10.20473/jgs.12.1.2018.145-163
Andrena, C. (2024). Pengaruh Barat Pada Rekontruksi Global Tiongkok. Humaniorasains, 1(1).
Anna, H., & Michael, C. (2015). Inside xinjiang: Space, place and power in China’s muslim far northwest. In Cambridge University Press (228). https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305741016001284
BBC. (2020a). Trump tunda beri sanksi ke China atas “tudingan penyiksaan Uighur” demi “perjanjian dagang.”
BBC. (2020b). Xinjiang: Large numbers of new detention camps uncovered in report.
Caro, I., Quitral, M., & Riquelme, J. (2022). Populismo y política exterior: el caso de los Estados Unidos de Donald Trump. Análisis Político, 35(104), 224–243. https://doi.org/10.15446/anpol.v35n104.105180
Clarke, M. (2021). “No Cracks, no Blind Spots, no Gaps”: Technologically-Enabled “Preventative” Counterterrorism and Mass Repression in Xinjiang, China. In Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90221-6_8
Database, X. V. (n.d.). Xinjiang Victims Database.
Edward, L., Bradley, J., & Natalie, H. (2023). Globalizing minority persecution: China’s transnational repression of the Uyghurs. Taylor and Francis Ltd., 20(4), 564–570.
Eichensehr, K. E., Act, P., Sanger, D. E., Mccabe, D., House, W., & Release, P. (2022). International Hyuman Rights and Humanitarian Law. In Contemporary Practice of the United States 185,(13), 433–438). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2022.8
Ertem, H. (2021). ANALISIS - China aktor kekuatan global baru dalam hubungan transatlantik.
Fitzsimmons, S. (2022). Personality and adherence to international agreements: The case of President Donald Trump. International Relations, 36(1), 40–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117820965656
Freedom from Torture Report. (2022). Against Humanity In Xinjiang Dangerous Liaisons : Uk Partnerships With Chinese Policing Institutions Linked To Crimes Against Humanity In Xinjiang.
Gill, T. (2020). The Future of U.S. Empire in the Americas: The Trump Administration and Beyond. Taylor & Francis.
Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (2016).
Global Times. (2021). China lodges protest over US ‘diplomatic boycott’ of Beijing Winter Games, vows countermeasures.
Greenstein, F. I. (1967). The Impact of Perconality on Politics: an Attempt to Clear Away Underbrush. The American Political Science Review, 61(3), 629–641.
Hampson, S. E. (2012). Personality Processes: Mechanisms by which Personality Traits “Get Outside the Skin.” 315–339. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100419.Personality
Hendrix, C., & Noland, M. (2021). Economic diplomacy and genocide in Xinjiang. Asia Pacific Issues, 150.
Hermann, M. G. (2003). Assessing Leadership Style: Trait Analysis. Social Science Automation.
Hermann, M. G. (2005). How Decision Units Shape Foreign Policy. Duke University Press.
Indri, K., & Baihaqi, A. (2024). Perlindungaan Hukum Bagi Muslim Uighur Terhadap Pelanggaran Hak Asasi Manusia. Sanskara Hukum Dan HAM, 3(01), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.58812/shh.v3.i01
Jisi, W. (2024). The logic of China–US rivalry. China International Strategy Review, 6(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42533-024-00157-6
Kriebitz, A. (2022). Western Sanctions on Xinjiang: An Impact Assessment. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 23(2), 238–245. https://doi.org/10.1353/gia.2022.0036
Larasati. (20224). Pergeseran Kebijakan Strategis AS-Tiongkok: Transisi kekuasaan Era Biden ke Trump 2.0. Jurnal Hubungan Internasional Indonesia.
Leibold, J. (n.d.). China’s Re-Education Camps in Xinjiang: Curing the Disease or Killing the Patient? In 2022. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1163/9789004512573_011
Li, P., Wang, J., & Chan, F. (2020). International Flows in the Belt and Road Initiative Context. In Palgrave Series in Asia and Pacific Studies (Issue April). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3133-0_13
Lisbet. (2021). The United State Policy Directions Under President Joe Biden. INFO Singkat, 13(3), 7–12.
Maizland, L. (2022). China’s Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Cfr.Org.
Maya, J. C. G., Aguilar, M. P., & Mendoza, D. I. (2019). The Conflict in Xinjiang (2013-2018): The Belt and Road Initiative and the Human Rights Crisis. Mexico y La Cuenca Del Pacifico, 8(23), 67–91. https://doi.org/10.32870/mycp.v8i23.602
Mintz, A., & DeRouen, K. (2010a). Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making. Cambridge University Press.
Mintz, A., & DeRouen, K. (2010b). Unerstending Foreign Policy Decition Making. United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York.
Montratama, I., & Yani, Y. M. (2017). Bargaining: Revisi Teori Perimbangan Kekuatan dalam Hubungan Diplomasi Indonesia, Malaysia, Cina dan Amerika Serikat. Intermestic: Journal of International Studies, 2(1), 53. https://doi.org/10.24198/intermestic.v2n1.5
Patrick, S. (2021). The Biden administration and the future of multilateralism. Observer Reserarch Fondation.
Polaschek, R. (2021). Responses to the Uyghur Crisis and the Implications for Business and Human Rights Legislation. Business and Human Rights Journal, 6(3), 567–575. https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2021.44
Raza, Z. (2019). China’S ‘Political Re-Education’ Camps of Xinjiang’S Uyghur Muslims. Asian Affairs, 50(4), 488–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2019.1672433
Renshon, S. A. (2012). The Contributions of Political Psychology to Comparative Political Leadership Analysis. Palgrave Macmillan.
Shafitri, D. N., Patriani, I., & SD, H. A. (2024). Respon ASEAN atas Keterlibatan Amerika Serikat di Laut Cina Selatan: Tinjauan Teori Balance of Threat. Politika: Jurnal Ilmu Politik, 15(1), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.14710/politika.15.1.2024.55-78
Snyder, R. S. (2024). Realist or Just Anti-Liberal? Trump’s Foreign Policy in Retrospect. International Journal, 79(1), 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207020241234245
Starr, F. (2019). Xinjiang: China’s Muslim Borderland. In Sustainability (Switzerland). 11,(1).
Szadziewski, H. (2020). The push for a Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in the United States: recent developments in Uyghur activism. Asian Ethnicity, 21(2), 211–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2019.1605497
The White House. (2017). National Security Strategy of the United States of America. The White House.
Thomas, S. (2022). “This Is a Great Nation, and We are a Good People”: President Joe Biden’s Inaugural Address and Attitude of Empathy. Southern Communication Journal, 87(2), 138–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2022.2030788
Towadi, M., Kasim, N. M., Rumawi, & Tahir, S. A. (2021). An Indication of China’s Policy towards Uighurs and its Implications by International Law Aspects. Jambura Law Review, 3(1), 55–71. https://doi.org/10.33756/jlr.v3i1.7730
uhpr. (2024). About The Uyghur. Uyhghur Human Rights Project.
Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (2020).
Wangdi, P., & Boossabong, P. (2024). Towards an Inclusive Education Policy for Sustainability: Advancing the ‘Educating for Gross National Happiness’ Initiative in Bhutan. Sustainability (Switzerland), 16(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135446
Warikoo, K. (2010). Religion and Security in South and Central Asia. Religion and Security in South and Central Asia, 1–217. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203840238
Wayne, S. (2012). Personality and Politics. CQ Press.
Widjaja, M. (2020). Ekonomi Politik Inisiatif One Belt One Road Tiongkok [One Belt One Road As China’S Political Economic Initiative]. Verity: Jurnal Ilmiah Hubungan Internasional (International Relations Journal), 11(21), 5. https://doi.org/10.19166/verity.v11i21.2448
Williams, C. A. (2013). Between Resistance and Adaptation. Between Resistance and Adaptation, December 2018. https://doi.org/10.5949/upo9781846312670
Wong, E., & Buckley, C. (2021). U.S. Says China’s Repression Of Uyghurs Is ‘Genocide.’ Istiqlalc: Monthly Journal of Press, 2(1).
Yang, X., & Qu, S. (2020). China-U.S. Trade Friction under Trade Ynilateralism and China’s Legal Respones. Virchows Archiv., 6(2), 655–691. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444323870
Yazar, S. (2024). Di̇nî Mi̇ras Ve Si̇yasî Çeki̇şmeler : Doğu Türki̇stan ’ Da Sûfî Hocalar Religious Legacy And Political Conflicts : STurk Kulturu ve Haci Bektas Veli - Arastirma Dergisi, 110(110), 265–287. https://doi.org/10.60163/tkhcbva.1480291
Zaki, A. H., & Sahide, A. (2024). Joe Biden’s foreign policy in dealing with China. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2024024
Zenz, A. (2023). Innovating Penal Labor: Reeducation, Forced Labor, and Coercive Social Integration in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. China Journal, 90(1), 27–53. https://doi.org/10.1086/725494
Zhao, S. X. B., Wong, J. H. C., Lowe, C., Monaco, E., & Corbett, J. (2021). COVID-19 Pandemic, Crisis Responses and the Changing World: Perspectives in Humanities and Social Sciences. In COVID-19 Pandemic, Crisis Responses and the Changing World: Perspectives in Humanities and Social Sciences (Issue September). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2430-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24198/jwp.v11i1.63890
Copyright (c) 2026 Rusniyanti Rusniyanti, Ahmad Sahide
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
JWP (Jurnal Wacana Politik) Indexed By:
21.png)
Published By:
Departement of Political Science
Campus of Faculty of Social and Political Science
Universitas Padjajaran, Building D, 2nd floor
Jl. Raya Sumedang Km.21, Jatinangor, Sumedang
Creation is distributed below Lisensi Creative Commons Atribusi 4.0 Internasional.