Following the US Donald Trump administration, the Joe Biden administration also brought out the’Quad’ as a Chinese check card. It has formalized its blatant intention to attract alliances and confront China, a dominant rival. The main opinion is that there is no change in the stance of paralleling cooperation and competition between the United States and China. However, the possibility of Korea being forced to make difficult choices such as participation in the’Quad Plus’ during the new Cold War between the United States and China is also growing.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a video seminar hosted by the American Peace Institute (USIP) on the 29th (local time), “(in the case of the quad) we really want to take over the form and mechanism and develop it further. NPR of the US public radio said that Assistant Sullivan has defined the quad as “the basis for building practical US policy in the Pacific region.” He is a key assistant in coordinating President Biden’s diplomatic and security initiatives. It is the Biden administration that said it would turn all the Trump administration’s policies upside down, but it reaffirmed that it would succeed as much as “beating China” progressively.
The quad, launched in 2019, is the definitive edition of the Trump administration’s China-checked India-Pacific policy. Former Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegan announced in August last year the QuadPlus initiative, which added Korea, New Zealand, and Vietnam to four quad countries. In addition to Japan, Australia, and India, which had been confronting China, it was planning to complete the siege of China, including other countries.
Although the regime change has taken place, the Biden administration cannot give up the Chinese press card. Kurt Campbell, former Vice Minister for East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, previously appointed as the White House National Security Council (NSC) India-Pacific Coordinator. It was also presented as a concept of a response association.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan shares his feelings on the nomination of President Joe Biden’s security adviser at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware on November 24 last year. Wilmington = AFP Yonhap News
However, a concept like Quad Plus doesn’t appear as a real pressure right away. Adviser Sullivan also mentioned that prior preparation is necessary, such as resolving internal US conflicts and coordinating opinions with the alliance before competition with China. Secretary of State Tony Blincoln also said at the first press conference on the 27th that the US-China relations have a hostile and competitive side, but left a room for “there is still a cooperative side.”
However, the conflict between the United States and China goes beyond the visible issues of military and economy. With the possibility of intensifying controversy over the values of democracy and the communist dictatorship, the strategic position of Korea has become more important. Chinese President Xi Jinping had already requested a phone call to President Moon Jae-in on the 26th, and the US declared that the ROK-US alliance is the’lynchpin’ of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. There are many comments that the establishment has begun. Therefore, it is analyzed that there is little possibility that Aide Sullivan’s mention of’development’ will lead not only to a simple change in how to maintain the quad, but also to increase the pressure to join South Korea.
Washington= Jeong Won Correspondent [email protected]
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