Pentagon’s China task force aimed at making quick decisions to box in Beijing

“What we’re going to do here is try to identify the most important challenges and opportunities for the secretary, try to identify what should serve as his and his team’s top priorities on China, whether those be issues that need secretary-level decisions or guidance, issues that need greater prioritization, attention, and resources, or issues that need either strength and/or new processes to move them forward to address them,” said Ely Ratner, the head of the 15-member task force in a briefing for reporters yesterday.

The “four-month sprint,” he said, is not aimed at creating a new bureaucratic layer here, but rather to “provide recommendations to the secretary, and then hand the baton off to various elements of the department to carry forward implementation.”

US AIMS TO OUT-COMPETE: At the State Department, spokesman Ned Price said Biden’s strategy with China is to view it as a strategic competitor. “We see this relationship through the lens of competition, and our broad posture vis-a-vis China is to work to position ourselves to compete and to out-compete with the Chinese across any number of realms,” he said. “We will engage the Chinese when it is consistent with our interests, when it is in our interests and consistent with our values.”

Biden kept China waiting for weeks before finally talking to Xi Wednesday night in a call that was described as at times conciliatory and other times less friendly as the deep differences remain between the two countries.

“There’s a reason why these engagements didn’t take place on Day One. We wanted to make sure that we had coordinated closely with our allies, including our allies in Europe and our treaty allies in the Indopacific, but also our partners,” Price said. “That initial engagement at the level of the secretary of state and the president of the United States took place only after a number of calls with our closest allies and partners.”

FREE ADVICE: The National Security Institute at George Mason University is out this morning with its own decision memo on China, written by visiting fellow James Freeman, which focuses on Chinese naval aggression in the South China Sea.

The memo argues that the U.S. needs to “reimagine” its naval warfare capabilities, suggesting aircraft carriers can no longer “sufficiently project power,” and that “expensive, indispensable assets” and “potentially insecure command and control” are “incapable, insufficient, and at risk.”

“To regain superiority, the U.S. will need to focus on the rapid development of unmanned systems and a reorientation toward more, and more dispensable, assets,” Freeman says.

Among his recommendations:

• Build more attack submarines.
• Invest in unmanned submersible vehicles that can collect and maintain targeting and that can coordinate and conduct attacks with advanced sensors, torpedoes, mines, and other weapons.
• Stop building big aircraft carriers and instead make small deck “aviation ships” that carry unmanned aerial vehicles from which long-range smart weapons can be coordinated or delivered.
• Develop more weapons and capabilities that are stealthy and which will potentially attrite and adversely affect the morale of the Chinese Navy.

Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Victor I. Nava. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will not publish on Monday, Feb. 15, as we observe the Presidents’ Day holiday.

HAPPENING TODAY: Former U.S. Afghanistan commander and CIA Director David Petraeus and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker headline an event this morning sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies titled “Setting Conditions for the Right Outcome in Afghanistan.”

Also appearing the 10 a.m. webinar will be Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Meijer; former State Department Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer, executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security; and Daniel Runde, director of the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development.

ALSO TODAY: Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby will be briefing reporters at the Pentagon, as he works to keep his promise to brief on-camera three times a week on most Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

BORDER EMERGENCY ENDED, TROOPS STAYING: President Biden notified Congress that he was ending the emergency declaration that President Donald Trump used to divert billions from military construction projects to pay for border wall construction that Congress refused to fund.

“I hereby report to the Congress that the national emergency declared by Proclamation 9844, and continued on February 13, 2020, and January 15, 2021, is terminated and that the authorities invoked in that proclamation will no longer be used to construct a wall at the southern border,” Biden said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“I have determined that the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border was unwarranted. I have also announced that it shall be the policy of my administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall, and that I am directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to that end.”

At the Pentagon, spokesman John Kirby said the end of the border emergency did not mean the troops deployed there by Trump are returning home.

“It won’t have an immediate impact,” Kirby told reporters at yesterday’s off-camera briefing. “That mission is funded through the rest of the year. So, I don’t have any changes to that mission to read out as a result of the president’s decision.”

STILL NO DATA ON VACCINE REFUSENIKS: Pentagon officials say they still do not know the rate at which service members are refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, reports Washington Examiner Defense Reporter Abraham Mahshie.

When Mahshie questioned Kirby about the level of concern about the refusal rate, which by some accounts is as high as 50%, Kirby said it has the attention of top leadership, including the defense secretary.

“Certainly, we’d like to have as much visibility on how the administration of vaccines is going and as much understanding as we can about the concerns of those people who don’t want it or don’t want it right away,” Kirby said. “And certainly, it’s a concern of the secretary, but he’s also mindful that it’s a voluntary program.”

“And while he [Austin] has taken the vaccine because he believes it was the right thing to do for him and for his health and for his family, and for his ability to do the job, he recognizes that this is a personal decision that everybody has to make.”

The Pentagon cannot require the coronavirus vaccine until it is fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The current voluntary program operates under an FDA emergency authorization. Nearly 967,000 doses have been delivered to military treatment facilities, and 800,135 vaccinations have been administered so far.

INDUSTRY WATCH: The State Department has approved the potential sale to Jordan of an F-16 Air Combat Training Center along with related equipment for an estimated $60 million. The principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin Corporation Rotary and Mission Systems, Orlando, Florida.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Militarization of Crimea heightens threat to NATO’s southeastern flank

Washington Examiner: White House gives conflicting answers on talks with Iran

Washington Examiner: Military’s COVID vaccine refusal rate still ‘a concern’ to Secretary Austin

Washington Examiner: Amazon link to Uighur crackdown could draw Bezos into clash with Biden

Washington Examiner: WHO chief says Wuhan lab leak theory needs further study after all

Washington Examiner: Capitol Police predict no swift end in sight for fences

Washington Examiner: ‘Archaic security strategy’: DC delegate introduces bill banning permanent Capitol fencing

Washington Post: Call between Biden and China’s Xi portends rocky road in post-Trump era

Defense News: In The South China Sea, It’s ‘Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss’

CNN: This May Be The Most Fearsome U.S. Navy Weapon In The Pacific

USNI News: Beijing Wants Arctic to Remain Peaceful, Chinese Diplomat Says

People Magazine: Air Force Chief Of Staff Gen. Brown Jr. Opens Up About Emotional Talks On Race With His Sons

Defense News: How Republicans Might Accept A Smaller Defense Budget

Navy Times: The Navy Has No Idea How Many Sailors It Has Booted For Extremist Activity

Air Force Magazine: Some Airmen See Tours Extended at Several Pacific, European Bases

AP: Russia Clashes With U.S. And West Over Conflict In Ukraine

Reuters: Turkey Says It Will Not Turn Back From Russian S-400s

Bloomberg: Iran’s Latest Atomic Violation Could Make Crafting A Bomb Harder

Air Force Magazine: Andrews Commander Addresses Breach, Teases Next Steps in Letter to Defenders

Axios: Team Biden eyes McCain, Flake as ambassadors

19fortyfive.com: The U.S. Army Is Getting Ready For Hypersonic Weapons

Stars and Stripes: Light Vehicles With Long-Range Punch Give Marines A Better Tank Killer, General Says

Military.com: Female Marines Who Called Out the Corps Commend New Postpartum Policy

19fortyfive.com: Iran’s Air Force Still Loves The Old F-14 Tomcat

Calendar

FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 12

10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar: “Setting Conditions for the Right Outcome in Afghanistan,” with Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich.; former CIA Director David Petraeus; former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker; former State Department Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer, executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security; and Daniel Runde, director of the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event

11 a.m. — National Press Club Newsmaker Program virtual headliners event: “How the U.S. government can end the use of hostage-taking as a diplomatic tool,” with former hostages Nizar Zakka, CEO of Hostage Aid Worldwide who was held hostage Iran; Barry Rosen, former U.S. press attache in Iran held captive in 1979; and Xiyue Wang, Princeton University graduate student arrested in 2016 in Iran. https://www.press.org/events/headliners/npc

11:30 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “Toward a Future EU-UK Relationship in Foreign Policy and Defense,” with former UK Ambassador to the United States Peter Westmacott; former NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation Gen. Stephane Abrial; Nathalie Loiseau, chair of the European Parliament’s Security and Defense Subcommittee; former UK National Security Adviser Mark Sedwill; Benjamin Haddad, director of the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center; and Olivier-Remy Bel, visiting fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/report-launch

MONDAY | FEBRUARY 15 | PRESIDENTS’ DAY

Federal holiday — No Daily on Defense.

CHANGE OF DATE AND TIME: 9 a.m. — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg briefs reporters ahead of the meeting of the NATO defense ministers, which will be held via video conference on Wednesday and Thursday. Available live on the NATO website, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news

TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 16

TBA — President Biden will travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1 p.m. — House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on “Oversight of Military Privatized Housing,” with Paul Cramer, principal deputy assistant Defense for sustainment (installations); and Elizabeth Field, director for defense capabilities and management in the Government Accountability Office. http://appropriations.house.gov

WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 17

11 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Update on the Department of Defense’s Evolving Roles and Mission in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” with testimony from Robert Salesses, performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security; Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, vice director for operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Steven Nordhaus, director of operations, National Guard Bureau.

11 a.m. — Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress virtual book discussion: “The Cyberweapons Arms Race,” with Nicole Perlroth, cybersecurity journalist for The New York Times, author of This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register

4 p.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conference call conversation with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/

THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 18

12 p.m. — Center for the National Interest invites you to a Zoom webinar: “The Challenge of Iran,” with Gary Samore, professor, Brandeis University; Ellen Laipson, distinguished fellow, Stimson Center; Shai Feldman, president, Sapir Academic College; and Geoffrey Kemp, senior director for regional security, Center for the National Interest. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register

TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 23

7 p.m. — Stimson Center and Sejong Institute Zoom webinar: “US and ROK Approaches to North Korea: Challenges and Opportunities,” with Jungsup Kim, senior research fellow, Sejong Institute; Jihwan Hwang, professor, University of Seoul; Suzanne DiMaggio, senior fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Jenny Town, fellow, Stimson Center and deputy director, 38 North; and moderated by Joel S. Wit, senior fellow, Stimson Center and Director, 38 North.https://www.stimson.org/event