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The Biden administration seems to share the previous administration's assessment of China, and President Biden is likely to continue his predecessor's Indo-Pacific strategy for countering China. Seeing China as a revisionist power intent on disrupting the American-led liberal order, the U.S. under Biden's watch is likely to declare China a major strategic competitor posing a threat to U.S. national security, and double down on efforts to keep Beijing in check accordingly.
But there are some defining features of the Biden administration's foreign policy vision that reflect a clear deviation from Trump's foreign policy records. Unlike Trump who favored unilateral actions with his disdain for multilateralsim, Biden is committed to rebuilding U.S. partnerships and alliances, returning to international institutions and restoring multilateralism. As Biden signals to steer American foreign policy in a different direction, his administration's policy for the Asia-Pacific region would depart from the path paved by the Trump administration.
First of all, President Biden has pledged to convene a 'Summit for Democracy' in his first year in office, and also hopes to organize a partnership of democracies in the form of G7 Plus to build a grand coalition against China on national security as well as on main areas of tension in the U.S.-China relationship, such as trade, technology and global supply chain.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the host of the 2021 G7 summit, has invited South Korea, India and Australia as guest to this year's meeting. The participation of these three countries in the G7 brings together the first outline of a 'D10' democracy alliance (G7 plus India, South Korea and Australia) envisioned by President Biden. Prime Minister Johnson's proposal represents a new ground for stronger foreign policy collaboration between the U.K. and the U.S., and the two sides are expected to work closely together down the road to build a “coalition of democracies”in the years ahead.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, comprising the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, disbanded less than a year after its inauguration in 2007. It was later revived by the Trump administration in November 2017 after a decade-long hiatus to keep China in check. The Biden administration agrees with its predecessor on the Quad's identity and agendas, so it is likely to carry forward and build on the work of the Trump administration in strengthening the grouping. The Quad, in particular, is viewed as a key mechanism to restore U.S. alliances - a promise echoed by President Biden. The new U.S. administration is thus expected to strengthen the position of this regional grouping and bolster cooperation among the Quad countries.
It remains uncertain whether the Biden administration will enlarge the Quad to create the so-called 'Quad Plus,' but one thing seems certain: the administration would capitalize on this regional arrangement to keep China's security and military behavior in check, and its tactics will be more multilateral in nature. While the Quad was a relatively narrow instrument focused primarily on security and military issues in the Trump era, the Biden administration is very likely to expand the grouping into a venue to facilitate cooperation on non-military and economic issues, such as health security, 5G technology, trade and adjustment of supply chains.
As the Biden administration looks set to expand the Quad in the coming years, Korea might face growing calls to join the enlarged version of the grouping. It is therefore imperative that Seoul make efforts to clarify its position on the matter and forge a response in advance. Given the current security climate surrounding the Korean peninsula, joining the Quad - widely perceived as a security forum to rein in China - could pose new challenges for Seoul. If the Quad's members expand the forum's agenda to include a broader array of issues like economy, technology and trade, Korea could consider participating in the forum on a selective basis. Therefore, it is advised that the Korean government closely monitor the situation and craft an effective response strategy to navigate its way forward.
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