{"id":36498,"date":"2021-03-03T17:34:56","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T17:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/03\/why-bidens-new-china-czar-requires-comprehensive-policy-authorities\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:56:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:56:02","slug":"why-bidens-new-china-czar-requires-comprehensive-policy-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2021\/03\/03\/why-bidens-new-china-czar-requires-comprehensive-policy-authorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Biden\u2019s new China czar requires comprehensive policy authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Biden administration\u2019s national security team is facing a series of complex and interrelated challenges. The common denominator at the nexus of these problems is the People\u2019s Republic of China, or PRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though, the administration indicated it will infuse the China challenge<\/a> into every National Security Council directorate<\/a>, effective management will require the new China czar to serve as the hub for developing the comprehensive policy for engagement, competition and deterrence of China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration signaled that domestic considerations (recovering from the pandemic and reviving the economy) will take top priority, giving indications that it intends to adopt a \u201ctough\u201d stance toward the PRC, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledging<\/a> the Chinese \u201cgenocide\u201d toward Uighur Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, economic links will be critical to recovery: tension between domestic concerns and China policy must be balanced. The entanglement of U.S. domestic and foreign interests within the U.S.-PRC relationship makes it ideal for the assignment of a czar and justifies privileging the Indo-Pacific portfolio holder as first among equals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Atlantic Council\u2019s CEO, Fred Kempe, went so far as to recently write that \u201cthis contest will be the one that will define his [President Joe Biden\u2019s] place in history \u2014 and whether democracy or authoritarianism will be the ascendant system for the future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese threat to U.S. security and the liberal rules-based order \u2014 characterized by Beijing\u2019s coordinated, centrally controlled malign acts in the areas of diplomacy, information, military strength and economy \u2014 is broad in scope<\/a>, immediate, enduring and existential. In many portions of these areas, Chinese belligerence has crossed the threshold from competition to conflict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competitive policies will contain trade-offs. There will be a cost to protecting sovereignty and the rules-based order; effective steps in one area carry traits detrimental for another. With all choices complex, policy recommendations require clear priorities based on overarching strategic goals, and execution requires coherence, necessitating coordination through the Indo-Pacific lens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the pivot to the Pacific almost 10 years ago, the U.S. government\u2019s response has been loosely coordinated<\/a> and, while broadly focused on competition, has not been implemented holistically. The China czar will be most effective in achieving U.S. goals over the next four years if he sets out to accomplish the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n