US Names China as 'Only Competitor' Despite Russian Threat... Emphasizes Investment as Security Strategy

President Joe Biden [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The Biden administration has reaffirmed China as the only country with the intent and capability to challenge the United States and stated its commitment to winning the competition against China while constraining Russia's immediate threat to the European region. Describing the next decade as a decisive period in the competition with China, the U.S. emphasized that it will "outperform China in the competition through effective competition."

The Biden administration mentioned key legislations it has focused on this year, such as the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), stating that supporting domestic investment is also crucial for securing national security through competitiveness.

On the 12th (local time), the White House National Security Council (NSC) released a 48-page National Security Strategy (NSS) containing these details. The NSS is a document that declares the United States' foreign strategy policy, which the White House has regularly formulated and published since the 1980s.

This is the first time the Biden administration, inaugurated in January last year, has released the NSS. The Biden administration announced an interim NSS guideline in March last year and originally planned to release the full NSS in January, but the outbreak of the Ukraine war and strategic revisions delayed the announcement. While the Trump administration took about 300 days to announce its strategy, the Biden administration took over 600 days.

In this document, the U.S. defined two immediate strategic threats: ▲ confrontation to shape the future with great powers such as China, and ▲ global common threats including climate change, pandemics, food security, terrorism, energy shortages, and inflation.

◆ "Prioritizing maintaining competitive advantage against China and constraining Russia"

Regarding competition with great powers, the U.S. pointed out that "the most urgent challenge the United States faces in pursuing a free and open prosperous and secure world is countries with authoritarian regimes that pursue revisionist foreign policies." The representative countries mentioned were China and Russia.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

In this document, the U.S. mentioned competition with China and constraining Russia as priorities in its foreign strategy. The Biden administration stated, "While China and Russia are expanding their cooperation, the problems they pose are distinct," adding, "We prioritize maintaining a clear competitive advantage against China while simultaneously constraining Russia, which remains a serious threat."

The Biden administration assessed, "Russia ruthlessly violates the fundamental laws of the international order today and poses an immediate threat to the free and open international system," but "lacks the capabilities of China." The New York Times (NYT) analyzed this as the U.S. government viewing the Russian military as less threatening than when the interim guideline draft was prepared in December last year.

On the other hand, China was evaluated as the "only competitor" possessing the intent to reshape the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological capabilities to achieve its goals. This assessment was previously made in the China strategy announced in May and is now explicitly stated in the security strategy.

The Biden administration said, "China is the most significant geopolitical challenge to the United States," adding, "While the Indo-Pacific region will be primarily affected, the challenges posed by China have a considerable international dimension." The U.S. reaffirmed its three main pillars of the China strategy: 'investment, partnerships, and competition.' The U.S. government emphasized, "We will prioritize investments to build a military trusted in war to deter invasions of our allies and partner countries in the region and help them defend themselves."

◆ Biden mentions investment issues... "Competitiveness must be maintained for security"

US President Joe Biden is walking at the groundbreaking ceremony of Intel's new semiconductor factory held last September in Ohio, USA.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The Biden administration raised the issue of domestic investment in this security strategy. The U.S. stated, "To outperform competitors and respond to common challenges, the United States must maintain and improve competitiveness through critical domestic investments," adding, "The future success of the U.S. in the world depends on our strengths and resilience at home, especially on the power of the middle class, which is central to national security as the engine of economic growth." It proposed the implementation of innovation strategies to achieve this.

Representative implementation measures mentioned include the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Biden administration said about the CHIPS Act investment, "We recognize the importance of semiconductor supply chains to national security and competitiveness and are working to revitalize the semiconductor industry within the United States." Regarding the IRA, it stated, "We will invest in domestic energy production and manufacturing and reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030," explaining, "Addressing the climate crisis, strengthening energy security, and promoting the transition to clean energy are essential to our industrial strategy, economic growth, and security."

The Biden administration said, "These investments will keep the U.S. in the lead, enhance economic capabilities, and support millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in economic activity over the next decade."

This is interpreted as focusing on giving national security strategy-level significance to President Biden's ongoing 'Made in America' policy stance. Creating jobs and supporting economic activity also helps strengthen national security. The U.S. placed the 'investment in strengths' section ahead of the competition with China and the constraint on Russia in this document, indicating its importance. Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor at the White House NSC, told reporters on the day of the NSS announcement, "We have broken down the line separating foreign policy and domestic politics to create investments that will have a profound impact on our industrial and innovation base at home."

◆ 'Small authoritarian state' North Korea mentioned 3 times

Regarding North Korea, the Biden administration stated that it "continues to expand its illegal nuclear weapons and missile programs," mentioning it alongside Iran as smaller authoritarian states causing instability. The U.S. emphasized that it will continue diplomacy with North Korea to achieve visible progress toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula while strengthening extended deterrence against North Korea's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missile threats.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

North Korea (DPRK) is mentioned only three times in this security strategy. In contrast, during the Trump administration's 2017 NSS release, North Korea was mentioned 17 times with stronger language.

The U.S. also stated that it shares a common vision with allies and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region and has a core interest in making the region a free, open, interconnected, and prosperous secure area. It reaffirmed firm defense commitments to Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and others, pledging to continue modernizing alliances.

The U.S. also emphasized strengthening relations with Europe and enhancing connections among technology, trade, and security issues between European and Indo-Pacific alliances and partners, which are interlinked.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.