President Joe Biden is assembling a team of "old China hands" as he prepares to confront the huge challenge presented by China and its aggressive foreign policy currently launching "gray-zone operations" against U.S. allies in Asia as a substitute for war.
Biden is putting together a foreign policy team consisting of old China hands, or experts on China, along with experts in Asian affairs. The importance Biden places on boosting U.S. influence in the Indo-Pacific while diminishing China's can be seen in his appointment of long-time China critic Kurt Campbell as the National Security Council's Indo-Pacific affairs coordinator, otherwise called the "China czar."
Campbell's appointment sends a strong signal to America's Asian allies the Biden administration will take a hard line against China in lockstep with its allies.
Campbell formerly served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the Obama administration. He was one of the architects of Obama's "Pivot to Asia," or East Asia Strategy.
This strategy called for strengthening bilateral security alliances; deepening America's working relationships with emerging powers (including China) and advancing democracy and human rights, among others.
As Indo-Pacific coordinator, Campbell will have broad management over NSC directorates responsible for China-related issues and parts of Asia. He's expected to adapt the Pivot to Asia strategy to deal with the new strategic situation created by ex-president Donald Trump's confrontational strategic competition against China.
Campbell reports directly to national security adviser Jake Sullivan, a close friend whom he worked with at the Department of State during the Clinton administration. Sullivan is a China hawk like Sullivan.
The Biden administration asserts the strategic competition against China is one of its greatest foreign policy challenges. It's kept emphasizing it will take action against China in concert with its Asian and global allies
Along with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Campbell and Sullivan will play major roles in crafting the Biden administration's policy towards China.
"China policy in 2021 I think is actually going to be about ally policy," said Scott Kennedy, senior advisor and Trustee Chair in Chinese business and economics at Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"So I think we're gonna see Secretary of State Antony Blinken ... national security advisor Sullivan and Kurt Campbell spend much of their time not directly engaging China, but engaging allies in Asia and Europe on China," he said.
The Biden administration is expected to focus its attention in countering China's relentless gray-zone operations against Japan and the Republic of China or Taiwan by ramping-up its freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait.
Gray zone operations, which are a favorite tool of both China and Russia, include the ambiguous use of unconventional force, election meddling, and economic coercion, among others. They're a step below an outright shooting war, but present a severe challenge to U.S. efforts to pursue its interests nonetheless.
China's gray-zone ops against Japan and China consists of sending its warplanes and warships close to or into the territorial waters or air defense identification zones of both countries.
Japan and Taiwan are forced to respond to China's incursions by deploying naval and air force units. This constant state of interceptions wears-down military personnel and equipment of both U.S. allies, increasing their vulnerability in the event of an actual Chinese attack.
