--- title: Democratic Debate: Candidates Have Tough Words for China description: The candidates faced questions on China's internment of Muslim minorities, its military build up and the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong canonical: https://time.com/5753427/democratic-debate-china-question/ author: Amy Gunia article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-20T04:25:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:25.536Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democratic Candidates Had Tough Words for China at the December Debate og:description: Billionaire Tom Steyer said the U.S. should treat China as a "frenemy" og:url: https://time.com/5753427/democratic-debate-china-question/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe1e6307cc0e22e8/698a07de457a52dc18d634d7/democratic-debate-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: democratic-debate-china og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democratic Candidates Had Tough Words for China at the December Debate twitter:description: Billionaire Tom Steyer said the U.S. should treat China as a "frenemy" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe1e6307cc0e22e8/698a07de457a52dc18d634d7/democratic-debate-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democratic Candidates Had Tough Words for China at the December Debate > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Highlights From the Last Democratic Debate of 2019 [Watch (HLS stream): Highlights From the Last Democratic Debate of 2019](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZEP0NBvw.m3u8) (2:56)  _Published 2019-12-20. This debate is the smallest so far. Only seven candidates qualified._ by [Amy Gunia](https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Dec 20, 2019 4:25 AM UTC  (From L) Democratic presidential hopefuls Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer participate in the sixth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 in Los Angeles, California on December 19, 2019. (From L) Democratic presidential hopefuls Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer participate in the sixth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 in Los Angeles, California on December 19, 2019. Frederic J. Brown— AFP/Getty Images by [Amy Gunia](https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Dec 20, 2019 4:25 AM UTC Democratic candidates had tough words for China—and offered support for Hong Kong protests—at Thursday night’s [Democratic presidential primary debate.](https://time.com/5753060/debate-live-updates/) When asked about how the U.S. should address the Chinese government’s alleged human rights abuses, South Bend, Ind., Mayor [Pete Buttigieg](https://time.com/5728307/pete-buttigieg-debate-iowa/) brought up the protests in Hong Kong as part of his answer. “If they perpetrate anything like [Tiananmen Square](https://time.com/5577212/hong-kong-china-tiananmen-massacre-museum-june-4-1989/) when it comes to Hong Kong, they will be isolated from the free world, and we will lead that isolation diplomatically and economically,” Buttigieg said, referring to the Communist Party’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989. Billionaire [Tom Steyer](https://time.com/5702476/tom-steyer-campaign-spending-state-races/) also touched on the [pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong,](https://time.com/5746027/hong-kong-protest-chrf-march-six-months/) which have gripped the Chinese territory since June. The U.S. should not respond on its own, he said, but should instead gather a “coalition of democracy and freedom loving partners and allies to push back.” Steyer added that the U.S. should treat China like a “frenemy.” “We actually can’t isolate ourselves from China,” he said. “We need a good relationship with them and we’re going to have to work with them.” Former Vice President [Joe Biden](https://time.com/5681768/joe-biden-democratic-primary-strategy/) was asked if military conflict with China is inevitable. “What we have to make clear is that we are not going to abide by what they’ve done. A million [Uihgurs](https://time.com/5630180/china-uighurs-mike-pompeo-stain-of-century/) are in concentration camps,” Biden said. Biden was referring to [the crackdown](https://time.com/5678136/human-rights-watch-children-xinjiang/) on the predominately Muslim ethnic minority group in Xinjiang in western China. He added that a military build up in Asia might be necessary to stop China. “We should be moving 60% of our sea power to that part of the world to let, in fact, the Chinese understand that they’re not going to get any further, we are going to be there to protect other folks,” Biden said. “We don’t have to go to war but we have to make clear that this is as far as you go, China.” CNN journalist Will Ripley posted on Twitter that the network’s debate live feed cut out in Beijing during the segment on China. > [](https://twitter.com/willripleyCNN/status/1207843427771023360) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5753427/democratic-debate-china-question/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5753427/democratic-debate-china-question/"},"headline":"Democratic Candidates Had Tough Words for China at the December Debate","datePublished":"2019-12-20T04:25:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:25.536Z","description":"Mayor Pete Buttigieg vowed to isolate China if there was a violent crackdown in Hong Kong","url":"https://time.com/5753427/democratic-debate-china-question/","keywords":["2020 Election","China","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe1e6307cc0e22e8/698a07de457a52dc18d634d7/democratic-debate-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amy Gunia","jobTitle":"Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong.","url":"https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe1e6307cc0e22e8/698a07de457a52dc18d634d7/democratic-debate-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"democratic-debate-china","caption":"Democratic Debate China","creditText":"Frederic J. 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