The fact that the invasion of Ukraine has pushed Washington to turn its power against Russia does not mean that the focus of its strategic priorities has shifted to Moscow. The great enemy of the United States, the greatest threat or “the main challenge”, continues to be China. So much so that Joe Biden wants to take advantage of the alliances forged against Vladimir Putin to counteract the growing and "aggressive" influence of the Asian giant.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear in a recent speech at George Washington University: "Even as President Putin's war continues, we will remain focused on the most serious long-term challenge to the international order, and that is the What does China propose? For the People's Republic is "the only country with the intention of reshaping the international order and, increasingly, with the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do so." And such an objective deserves to be fought for the well-known reason that "Beijing's vision would distance us from the universal values that have sustained the world's progress in the last 75 years."
Biden "does not seek a war with China", neither cold nor much less hot. Especially as long as Beijing maintains its apparent distance from Russia regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the US does want to preserve by all means the international order installed after World War II, Blinken said. And, for this, the one that at the moment continues to be the first power intends to "align efforts with our unrivaled network of allies and partners" in order to "compete with China to defend our interests and build our vision for the future."
The president and his secretary of state do not stop emphasizing the need for the US and China to "cooperate" in areas such as climate change, food security, the joint approach to the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea or the coordinated overcoming of the pandemic. But at the same time, Biden and Blinken keep reminding themselves that "under Xi Jinping's presidency, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad." And since “we cannot trust Beijing to change its course”, the prescription is “to shape the strategic environment around China to promote our vision of an open and inclusive international system”. That is, to gain weight in the region and thus stop Beijing's accelerated advance, with special attention to the Pacific.
After Blinken's first visit to the region in February, overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis, Biden embarked with him on a first Asian tour that took them to South Korea and Japan. There, the president launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF): an economic cooperation program of 14 countries in the area that, always with the goal of counteracting the strength of China, comes to replace the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), which Donald Trump left in 2017. Biden also met with his Quad allies (Japan, India and Australia). And days before he had received the leaders of the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In Japan, the president affirmed that the United States is willing to defend the island of Taiwan militarily if China decides to attack it, although the White House later asserted that the declaration did not represent changes with respect to Washington's policy on this thorny issue.
Gestures aside, the problem is that, while China adds warships to a fleet that is already much larger in number, although not in power, than that of the US; while Beijing invests resources, creates infrastructure, offers training and weaves agreements of all kinds with small and large countries in the vast area to better access its territories and seas, as well as its technological networks, the US government has not made any progress there in the way and at the pace that its great declarations of principles should imply.
"The United States does not have a significant presence in the Pacific," Anna Powles, professor of security studies at Massey University in New Zealand, tells The New York Times. "There's a lot of talk, but there's little real substance," adds Sandra Tarte, head of international affairs at the University of the South Pacific in Suva.
China, not Russia, is Biden's number one obsession. Also its most complex challenge in the long run.
