MESOP MIDEAST WATCH Top of the Agenda – Blinken Details U.S. Strategy Toward China

28.5.22 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out (CNN) the Joe Biden administration’s strategy toward China in a speech yesterday (State Dept.), calling Beijing “the most serious long-term threat to the international order.” Blinken said Washington is determined to avoid a conflict or new Cold War with China.

The U.S. approach—called “invest, align, compete”—hinges on efforts to invest in domestic sources of strength, align with allies and partners, and compete with China on issues such as technological innovation. Blinken reiterated that the U.S. strategy toward Taiwan is unchanged, and that Washington seeks to engage and cooperate with China where possible, especially on climate change. Officials said President Biden could hold a phone call (Politico) with Chinese President Xi Jinping within weeks.

 
 
Analysis

 

“[The speech] gave the administration’s China policy a much-needed packaging. It was eloquent. But it came a year late and still failed to address key issues,” CFR’s Ian Johnson tweets.

 

“[The administration] has got to signify some goodwill—right now the Chinese side believes that it doesn’t matter what they do, that if they moderate their policies…we won’t adjust our own stance from a more hostile competition to a more friendly competition,” the University of California San Diego’s Susan Shirk tells Politico.