'Chinese Strategists Assess the Biden Admin’s Indo-Pacific Strategy' with CWP alum Joel Wuthnow

Chinese strategists view the motivations, drivers, and challenges arising from the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy with increasing concern. Based on a review of recent articles written by senior Chinese scholars at various civilian and military institutions who have access to key Chinese Communist Party decision-making and foreign-policy organizations, we found that Chinese strategists regard U.S. strategy in Asia as an upgrade from the approach of the Trump administration, with major improvements in the scope of alliance coordination and the use of economic tools to compete with Beijing. These strategic thinkers, however, remain confident that U.S. strategy will be undermined by divergent strategic interests and economic dependencies on China. The dominant prescription remains attempts to drive wedges between the United States and its partners, though analysts differ on whether to increase competition with or enhance stability with Washington.

Bolder Gambits, Same Challenges: Chinese Strategists Assess the Biden Admin’s Indo-Pacific Strategy - Joel Wuthnow and Elliot S. Ji  

Joel Wuthnow is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies of the U.S. National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, DC. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Dr. Wuthnow’s latest publications include Gray Dragons: Assessing China’s Senior Military Leadership (INSS China Strategic Perspectives 16, 2022), Crossing the Strait: China’s Military Prepares for War with Taiwan (NDU Press, 2022, lead editor) and The PLA Beyond Borders: Chinese Military Operations in Regional and Global Context (NDU Press, 2021, lead editor).

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