US Identifies China as Its 'Only Competitor' Despite Russian Threat... Emphasizes Investment as Part of Security Strategy (Comprehensive)

President Joe Biden of the United States

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The Biden administration reaffirmed that China is the "only country" with the intent and capability to challenge the United States and stated its commitment to winning the competition with 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 "surpass China in the competition through effective competition."

The Biden administration mentioned key legislations such as the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which have been the focus this year, stating that supporting domestic investment is also crucial for securing competitiveness and national security.

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 policy direction, regularly formulated and published by the White House 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 initially planned to release the full NSS in January, but the outbreak of the Ukraine war and subsequent strategic revisions delayed the announcement. While the Trump administration took about 300 days to announce the strategy, the Biden administration took over 600 days.

In this document, the U.S. identified 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 while constraining Russia"

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

[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 cooperation with each other, 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 is ruthlessly violating 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 Russia as less threatening compared to when the interim guideline draft was prepared in December last year.

On the other hand, China was described as the "only competitor" possessing the intent and capabilities?economic, diplomatic, military, and technological?to reshape the international order. This evaluation was previously made during the announcement of the China strategy 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 the existing three pillars of its China strategy: 'investment, alliances, and competition.' The U.S. government emphasized, "We will prioritize investments to build a military trusted in war to deter invasions against 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 surpass 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 the power of the middle class, which is central to national security as the engine of economic growth." Implementation of innovation strategies was proposed as necessary for this.

Representative implementation measures mentioned include the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Biden administration said regarding 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 contributes to strengthening national security. The U.S. placed the 'investment in strengths' section ahead of the competition with China and constraining Russia in this document, highlighting its importance. Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor at the White House, 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 three times

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

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

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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

The U.S. emphasized strengthening relations with Europe and enhancing connections among technology, trade, and security issues between European and Asia-Pacific allies and partners. The U.S. government also announced a 'dual-track' approach to comprehensively strengthen cooperation with other countries, including competitors, in addressing global issues such as climate change, and deepen cooperation with democratic nations.

Regarding military modernization, the U.S. confirmed that nuclear deterrence is the top priority for national security, emphasizing modernization of the U.S. nuclear triad?nuclear bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines?and nuclear weapons-related infrastructure.

With the Biden administration releasing the comprehensive NSS, the Defense Strategy Document (NDS), Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), and Missile Defense Review (MDR) are also expected to be released soon. Regarding the NPR, there is speculation that it may include policies such as 'no first use of nuclear weapons' or a 'sole purpose' policy where nuclear weapons are used only if the U.S. is attacked, which were considered before the Ukraine war at the end of last year.

Advisor Sullivan said, despite recent threats from Russia, this document "will take steps toward reducing the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. strategy," adding, "We do not want competition to escalate into confrontation or a new Cold War."

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