US’ new China task force will identify top priorities, its chief says – and tech is ‘huge’
- Task force’s leader Ely Ratner says it will assess Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s most important challenges and opportunities regarding China
- Technology competition is of growing importance in US-China relations, he says
“The goal of the task force is … not to ‘boil the ocean’,” said Ratner, a long-time Asia expert who was deputy national security adviser to Biden when he was vice-president during the Obama administration.
“What we’re going to do here is try to identify the most important challenges and opportunities for the secretary, try to identify what should serve as his and his team’s top priorities on China, whether those be issues that need secretary-level decisions or guidance, issues that need greater prioritisation, attention and resources, or issues that need either strength and/or new processes to move them forward to address them.”
Biden said this week during his first visit to the Pentagon as president that a task force was to be established to help “chart a strong path forward on China-related matters”.