The Biden administration released a key policy document on Wednesday, underlining the threat posed to the US by both China and Russia.
The National Security Strategy states that China and Russia who earlier this year announced a “no-limits partnership” are increasingly aligned with each other but the challenges they pose are distinct.
“We will prioritize maintaining an enduring competitive edge over the PRC while constraining a still profoundly dangerous Russia,” it adds.
The policy document contends that competition with China is most pronounced in the Indo-Pacific, but it is also increasingly global.
“Around the world, the contest to write the rules of the road and shape the relationships that govern global affairs is playing out in every region and across economics, technology, diplomacy, development, security, and global governance,” it adds.
The US Security Strategy highlighted that the next ten years will be a decisive decade of competition with China.
“We stand now at the inflection point, where the choices we make and the priorities we pursue today will set us on a course that determines our competitive position long into the future,” the document says.
The policy states that many US allies and partners, especially in the Indo-Pacific, stand on the frontlines of China’s coercion and are rightly determined to seek their own security, and prosperity.
“We will support their ability to make sovereign decisions in line with their interests and values, free from external pressure, and work to provide high-standard and scaled investment, development assistance, and markets,” it adds.
On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the document says Moscow’s “imperialist foreign policy” culminated “in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to topple its government and bring it under Russian control.”
Over the past decade, the Russian government has chosen to pursue an imperialist foreign policy with the goal of overturning key elements of the international order, the document says.
The Biden administration says that Russia now poses an immediate and persistent threat to international peace and stability.
It says Putin’s war has profoundly diminished Russia’s status vis-a-vis China and other Asian powers such as India and Japan.
“Moscow’s soft power and diplomatic influence have waned, while its efforts to weaponize energy have backfired. The historic global response to Russia’s war against Ukraine sends a resounding message that countries cannot enjoy the benefits of global integration while trampling on the core tenets of the UN Charter,” it adds.