US President Joe Biden’s administration has announced its National Security Strategy, which says China is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do so.
The administration published the set of guidelines for its diplomatic and military strategies on Wednesday for the first time since Biden took office.
The strategy says that in the competition with China, it is clear the next 10 years will be decisive.
The document says the administration’s strategy toward China is to invest in the foundations of US strength at home, which it says are competitiveness, innovation, resilience and democracy.
It also says the United States will further deepen ties with its allies and partners and “compete responsibly” with China to defend US interests.
The strategy describes the Indo-Pacific as “the epicenter of 21st century geopolitics.” It says the US reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan under their mutual security treaty, which it says covers the Senkaku Islands.
Japan controls the islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan’s territory.
The strategy says Russia now poses an “immediate and persistent threat to international peace and stability.”
It warns that Russia’s conventional military will have been weakened, and this will likely increase Moscow’s reliance on nuclear weapons in its military planning.
The document says the US will not allow Russia, or any power, to achieve its objectives through using, or threatening to use, nuclear weapons.
The Biden administration was expected to publish the National Security Strategy at the beginning of this year. But the announcement was delayed partly due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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