New Principles of Biden Diplomacy: Modesty and Self-Control

Biden’s policy toward China is similar but different to Trump’s. Korea should contribute to the establishment of an order of coexistence.

New Indo-Pacific Order Adding Uncertainty

At first glance, the Joe Biden administration’s policy toward China is no different from that of Donald Trump. The U.S. has decided to continue its Indo-Pacific strategy, and Biden himself has come forward to speak of an “extreme competition” with China. However, there is a big difference in the perception of the situation between the lines and the implementation plan.

What stands out most is the part that refers to humility and self-control. At a confirmation hearing last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “humility” is one of the pillars of U.S. leadership. Not only is there a lot of work to do at home, but much of international affairs is not related to U.S. interests. It means that the country comes first, and it will not present itself as the world police.

It’s not only Blinken taking this position. William Burns, who became director of the CIA, wrote in September last year that “rebuilding U.S. hegemony is not an option, and the U.S. should show modesty and restraint.”* National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell also said, “We must humbly accept the fact that we have no choice but to coexist with China.”

It is difficult to hear talk of U.S. primacy in the Biden administration. Biden himself said in the 2016 Davos Forum that “the United States is an indispensable nation,” but he doesn’t say that these days. It is not just because of the failure of Trump’s America-first policy and his supporters’ storming of the Capitol in early January. As a natural result, diplomatic and military strategies are followed by changes. First, diplomacy comes to the forefront instead of military power, which has been the center of U.S. foreign policy since the war on terror. It is symbolic that Biden visited the State Department in early February and said, “I will strengthen diplomacy.” Two weeks later, he went to the Department of Defense and said, “You are a diplomat.”

Second, the composition and deployment of military forces will also change. The Biden team says the U.S. cannot pursue military primacy. The U.S. should go to A2/AD (anti-access/regional rejection) like China, aim for less expensive asymmetric weapons systems such as missiles, unmanned aircraft and submarines, and distribute military power concentrated in East Asia to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has begun reviewing military power, so the results will come out in four months.

What is not well outlined is foreign economic policy. It is the economy that determines the direction of U.S.-China competition. That’s why it is difficult to come up with the right answer. The situation in the United States is not simple. Considering 74 million Trump supporters and the upcoming midterm election in two years, it is understandable that Biden signed a strengthening measure to “use domestic products.” However, it is a desperate measure, and it is obvious that such measures will be undesirable externally. China is leading the way by signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the China-EU Investment Protection Agreement at the end of last year.

In the future, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, Quad Plus, G-7 Plus, D-10, Economic Prosperity Network, RCEP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Belt and Road Initiative will compete in the new order initiative in the Indian Pacific. Biden diplomacy, which emphasizes modesty and restraint, is expected to take the lead in issues based on small groups instead of building an exclusive camp. Korea also needs a more sophisticated strategy. The idea of waiting in line between the U.S. and China is not the answer in the first place.

Without the United States, we cannot maintain the order that brought prosperity to Asia in the last century, and without China, it is difficult to sustain it. Neither the sense of damage that we are driven to choose between the U.S. and China, nor the conceit that we can choose, is groundless. Korea, which is the world’s 10th largest economy and at the cutting edge of semiconductor and secondary battery technology, can and should play an active role in creating an order of coexistence in the Indo-Pacific region.