Likening the Biden administration’s tack to that of detente with the Soviet Union in the 1970s, the policymakers said in an essay published in Foreign Affairs magazine on Wednesday “the current approach will yield little cooperation from Chinese leaders while fortifying their conviction that they can destabilise the world with impunity”.
Gallagher made Washington policymakers’ concerns about China more prominent in the many events that his committee organised, some during prime-time viewing hours. And Pottinger testified at its first hearing, calling Beijing’s ability to present itself as a responsible interlocutor “one of the great magic tricks of the modern era”.
Campbell recently held the same role in Biden’s NSC that Pottinger did under Trump.
How far did Janet Yellen’s trip move the ball for US-China relations?
How far did Janet Yellen’s trip move the ball for US-China relations?
“For the first time in years, Xi appeared to have successfully positioned the United States as supplicant in the bilateral relationship.”
US and Chinese military discuss potential for accidental clashes in Indo-Pacific
US and Chinese military discuss potential for accidental clashes in Indo-Pacific
On the defence front, recommendations by Pottinger and Gallagher ranged from significant increases in defence spending to “creative solutions” for the Asian theatre that include “missile launchers concealed in commercial container boxes or field the Powered Joint Direct Attack Munition, a low-cost kit that turns standard 500-pound bombs into precision-guided cruise missiles”.
They also called for defence spending on the order of “four or even five per cent of GDP” – up from about three per cent currently – and an additional US$20 billion to be earmarked as “a dedicated ‘deterrence fund’ overseen by the secretary of defence, who would award resources to projects that best align with the defence of Taiwan”.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.