US President Joe Biden officially nominated long-time “Asia hand” Kurt Campbell as US deputy secretary of state on Wednesday, a move analysts said showed Biden’s commitment to his Indo-Pacific strategy.
Campbell, now the National Security Council’s coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, is regarded as the architect of that strategy, which aims to deepen partnerships among allies in the region – with the unspoken goal of countering a rising China.
Yun Sun, director of the China Programme at the Stimson Centre, called Campbell the “mastermind” behind Biden’s China policy as well as the Indo-Pacific strategy.
“His nomination to be the No 2 at the State Department is a clear testament of the importance of the region, and China in Biden’s foreign policy,” Sun said. “The nomination suggests that his policy is seen as effective and well serves the Biden administration’s overall goal.”
“It also suggests that the current policy course will continue into the foreseeable future, especially if Biden wins re-election next year,” Sun added.
The Biden administration, which identifies China as the “most consequential geopolitical challenge” to the US, has been enhancing its Asian alliances, with Japan and South Korea as well as with the Aukus security pact with Australia and Britain.
Campbell has advocated for a greater US focus on Asia – and a more confrontational approach concerning China.
In 2021, Campbell declared that “the period that was broadly described as engagement has come to an end”, adding that “the dominant paradigm will be competition” and that allies would be central to US efforts to match China’s advances.
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Campbell also said that the two nations could coexist peacefully and that the US-China relationship should not be viewed as a “new cold war”.
In an interview last month with ChinaTalk, Campbell said that despite friction on other issues, Washington and Beijing could continue to work together in areas of mutual interest like fentanyl and the climate crisis.
“Continuing high-level engagement, practical areas of communication in an environment in which competition remains the dominant theme in our relationship is what we can hope for and work towards,” he said.
Campbell was assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs from 2009 to 2013 during the Barack Obama administration. He helped formulate the “Pivot to Asia” strategy unveiled by Obama, and further outlined the approach – which favoured prioritising Asia as a focus of US foreign policy – in his 2016 book “The Pivot”.
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Campbell has held different governmental roles as well, including at the Pentagon and the Treasury. He was also the founding chairman and chief executive of the Asia Group, a strategic advisory and capital management consultancy.
Campbell’s nomination comes as the administration deals with foreign policy challenges in other regions, particularly its support for Israel in its war against Hamas and working with allies to ensure the conflict doesn’t expand to the greater Middle East.
It also comes as Washington and Beijing work towards a meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco.
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Securing Senate approval would end months of a vacuum behind Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Wendy Sherman retired from the deputy position this summer.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the department hoped the Senate would confirm Campbell “as expeditiously as possible”.
China has criticised the United States for the Indo-Pacific strategy, noting that its purpose is to contain China, and saying that it formed small cliques and that it is “doomed to fail”.