At least three of his early foreign policy steps provide a clear view of his approach to China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet their Chinese counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi in Alaska in a face-to-face conversation between the Biden administration and China this weekend.
The meeting follows a volley of diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to strengthen US relations with its partners and allies in Asia as part of the Indo-Pacific strategy. Since taking office on January 20, President Joe Biden hurried to China, where he does not have foreign policy priorities. At least three of his early foreign policy steps provide a clear view of his approach to China.
‘Biggest test’
First, there is an agreement within the Biden administration that China, not Russia, is America’s primary rival. The Trump administration, which called China “revisionist power”, had reached the same conclusion. Mr. Biden takes it further. The Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, issued by the administration, calls China “the only potential capable of combining economic and political, military, and technological power to challenge a stable and open international system.” According to Secretary of State Blinken, America’s relationship with China will be “the largest geopolitical test of the 21st century”.
Mutual interest
Second, even if overall relations remain tense, the Biden administration will seek to engage with China on matters of mutual interest. In Alaska meeting, US will try to establish ground rules and red lines for their relations the new York Times. Areas of mutual interest are where the US and China can cooperate, such as the fight against climate change and the Kovid-19 epidemic. China has also offered cooperation in these areas. There are also geopolitical areas where both sides can continue to cooperate.
The US has already proposed to include representatives from China, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan and the US in a multilateral UN-led conference to find a permanent solution to the Afghan conflict. Similarly, the Biden administration has made clear its intention to revive the Iran nuclear deal which was abandoned by President Donald Trump. China is a signatory to the agreement with the United Nations Security Council and Germany and other permanent members of the European Union. The US will need China’s diplomatic support in an effort to get the nuclear deal back on track.
Quad
Third, the main theater of the US-China rivalry is the Indo-Pacific region. President Barack Obama promised an American “pivot to Asia”, but he was constrained by many other factors, primarily America’s involvement in West Asia. Mr. Trump took the US-China rivalry to a new height, but he did it bilaterally – he took China head-on by launching a trade and technical war and mounting sanctions. Mr Biden seems to have returned to an old playbook – the creation of a coalition system against China as an alliance. For this the US needs both US allies like Japan, South Korea and Australia and partners like India.
Unexpectedly, Blinken, the first country’s secretary, went to Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihida Suga will be the first foreign leader to host Mr. Biden at the White House. During Trump’s years, America’s relations with Japan and South Korea had sourced the president’s demand for higher pay to keep American troops from those countries. The Biden administration wasted no time in sharing the cost of hosting US troops with South Korea and Japan – who see these countries as security guarantees. Then the leaders of the so-called quad countries – the US, India, Japan and Australia – held virtual talks at their first summit. A quad summit was held within the first 50 days of the Biden administration which makes agglomeration a high priority in the Mr. Inden-Pacific strategy.
While all sides have stated that the quad is not against any particular country, it is difficult to remember what the common factor is. The US has been a strong supporter of a strong quad. But it is too early to say whether Mr Biden will be able to rally the Quad and other US allies in a bipolar competition against China in a region like South Korea.
Among the quad countries, India is the only country that shares a land border with China which saw clashes last year. For Japan, South Korea and Australia, China is their number one trade partner and uninterrupted trade with China is critical to their continued prosperity. But all these countries share security concerns with fast-growing China. So there are many other countries in the region like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and even Communist Vietnam. The US is trying to address these concerns while trying to tie the Indo-Pacific coalition system together.
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