America’s foreign policy on China is shaping up just two months after the launch of Joe Biden’s administration in January. Biden prioritizes China policy as seen in his considering the appointment of an “Asia czar” in the White House. In a changed international environment in which the former U.S.-Soviet rivalry was replaced by the Sino-U.S. confrontation, the Biden administration will certainly deal with Korean Peninsula issues, including the North Korean nuclear threat, in the bigger frame of U.S.-China competition. As a result, the United States will demand more from South Korea than in the past. U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s simultaneous trip to Seoul and Tokyo next week translates into a strategic step to consolidate America’s alliances and put the brakes on China’s growing clout in the region.
