President Joe Biden laid out his case for an economic competition, but not a military conflict, with China in his first address to Congress, promising he would build a NATO-like alliance in the Indo-Pacific “to prevent conflict” with the Asian powerhouse.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, one of the few Cabinet members in attendance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, had been calling China the U.S. military’s “pacing challenge” for months and will make his second visit to the region this week for the change-of-command ceremony at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. Meanwhile, the United States has rapidly ramped up assistance to and cooperation with India and encouraged Pacific alliance partners Australia, Japan, and South Korea to do more. On Wednesday, Biden explained to the public what deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would look like.
“In my discussion with President Xi, I told him that we welcome the competition — we’re not looking for conflict,” Biden said of Chinese President Xi Jinping. “But I made absolutely clear that I will defend American interests across the board.”
GENERAL WIELDS INFLUENCE DELICATELY IN CHINESE PLAY FOR MILITARY FOOTHOLD IN AFRICA
But he sounded a tough tone on Beijing’s tactics in the global economy, sending this signal to Xi: “Every nation plays by the same rules in the global economy, including China.”
Defense officials often cite preserving the rules-based international order when describing freedom of navigation transit in the South China Sea and elsewhere in the Pacific, areas where China has bullied neighboring countries and staked out expansive maritime claims.
Biden referred to competition with China multiple times in his address, when referencing infrastructure investment and even the Defense Department’s DARPA research investments that have led to advances such as the internet and GPS.
“China and other countries are closing in fast,” he said.
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The president said America would not preserve that order alone.
“I also told President Xi that we will maintain a strong military presence in the Indo-Pacific, just as we do with NATO in Europe,” he said. “Not to start conflict, but to prevent conflict.”
