“Defense Minister Insun Biden confirms the keynote of diplomatic advantage … weakness in China’s control”

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There are many interpretations of the election of the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, to the former central commander Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense.

There is an assessment that the Ministry of Defense is playing a role in helping Biden-elect keep up with the policy of the diplomatic line aimed at restoring diplomatic leadership and the US alliance.

In addition, concerns are raised that candidate Austin’s lack of experience in East Asia, including China, which the United States considers the greatest threat, serves as a weakness in the formulation and implementation of defense strategies.

The Washington Post (WP) believes that Biden’s appointment in Austin on the 9th (local time) expressed the expectation of avoiding the fight over foreign policy, as in the past of the Barack Obama administration.

The Austin candidate took an attitude to avoid the political battles that have taken place in Washington in the past, which is in line with Biden’s intention that the White House lead national security policy, not the Pentagon.

The WP reported that the Austin nominee has been nominated for various places, such as the first black central commander in American history, but he avoided lighting in and out of his office and was often reluctant to reveal his points. even in private.

Unlike other generals, Austin did not publish a book of his thoughts or assert a political position in a think tank even after his retirement.

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This situation could serve as a mechanism to help Secretary of State Tony Blincoln’s candidate and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan lead foreign policy.

In fact, Biden said in an Atlantic contribution the day before, “We need a leader who understands that the military is just a means of national security like Austin. “We share our promise to empower people and experts to lead foreign policy.”

The WP assessed that Biden’s vice president in 2009 clashed with military leaders over the issue of sending 40,000 new soldiers to Afghanistan, but was ultimately defeated in a fierce debate, and this injury was the background for choosing Austin.

On the other hand, it was said that Austin initially opposed the Iraqi troop reduction in 2011, when he was the commander in Iraq, but soon agreed with Washington’s hopes for the reduction.

Biden-elect is known to be close enough to attend the Iraqi commander’s inauguration ceremony in Austin in 2010, with some pointing out that this personal relationship influenced the elections.

While working in Iraq, Austin had a staff member of Biden-elect’s eldest son, Bo Biden, who was said to have been close enough to attend a weekly service together and keep in touch afterward.

Biden was fond of him enough to view him as his political successor, but he died of brain cancer in 2015. When Biden-elect selected Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as his running mate, Bo and their friendship were interpreted to have partly worked.

Regardless of the US administration and Congress, there is a bipartisan consensus that emphasis should be placed on strengthening the defense power of the Indo-Pacific region to control China, but there are also points where Austin lacks this experience.

Austin’s work abroad is mostly concentrated in the Middle East and Europe, and he is known to have no experience working in East Asia, such as Korea and Japan.

From the American point of view, East Asia is a key region to slow the expansion of China’s influence and, at the same time, is a place with a great task of denuclearization of North Korea, but Austin is concerned that their experience in this field is limited.

Politico, a political news outlet, said experts are concerned about Austin’s lack of experience in what is seen as America’s most pressing challenge, and that this is an increasingly aggressive China.

Former defense official Elbridge Colby told Politico that he “suggests that Biden is not taking China’s military threat as seriously and urgently as we need it to be.”

Oriana Skyler Mastro, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), criticized in a WP article that Austin was certainly a safe option for Biden-elect, but it was never safe to choose a poorly prepared minister on the issue of Chinese coping.

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