Opinion | A Biden administration that’s tough on China faces three main challenges in Southeast Asia
- Biden officials favour a refined version of the Trumpian strategy in Asia. However, they face shaky alliances, scepticism about US foreign policy and an increasingly dominant China, which has brought tangible economic benefits to the region
But it was Blinken’s conversations with Southeast Asian nations that were particularly telling, signalling the overall tenor of the Biden administration’s strategy in Asia. And it’s in Southeast Asia, the new theatre of superpower rivalry, where the Biden administration’s foreign policy mettle will be tested like nowhere else.
Blinken will face major hurdles, namely prickly allies, wavering strategic partners, and an increasingly dominant China, which has brought tangible economic benefits to its Southeast Asian neighbours.
Echoing the former US administration’s tough policy on China, he “underscored that the United States rejects China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea to the extent they exceed the maritime zones that China is permitted to claim under international law as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention”.
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By and large, we are likely to witness more policy continuity rather than a departure from the previous administration. In fact, not only has Biden adopted a more strident position on China in the past year amid a more hawkish turn among Democrats, his “big four” cabinet picks have signalled a refined version of the Trumpian strategy in Asia.