An American strategy for the Indo-Pacific in an age of US-China competition Enhancing alliances, economic engagement, and regional stability

 An American strategy for the Indo-Pacific in an age of US-China competition

Enhancing alliances, economic engagement, and regional stability

Richard C. Bush, Tanvi Madan, Mireya Solís, Jonathan Stromseth, and Andrew Yeo 

November 2022

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Global ChinaThe United States is a leading Indo-Pacific power with an abiding interest in sustaining a strong alliance network and maintaining a free and open regional order that delivers peace, stability, and economic prosperity. The Indo-Pacific is a dynamic region experiencing a rewiring of the lines of security and economic cooperation, as minilateral networks continue to grow and mega trade agreements take hold. The most significant development in the Indo-Pacific is the emergence of China as a peer competitor to the United States. Chinese actions that undermine vital U.S. interests include the use of coercion — whether in the form of gray-zone tactics, political interference, economic pressure, or military force — to weaken the U.S. alliance system in Asia, press unilateral territorial claims, and settle international disputes with disregard to international law. China also seeks to undermine democratic resilience in the region and incorporate Taiwan into the People’s Republic of China, even though its people reject the terms offered.

To sustain U.S. interests and efforts in the Indo-Pacific, we offer three sets of recommendations:

- Deepening alliances, partnerships, and coalitions. The U.S. should deepen its security alliances, enhance minilateral cooperation initiatives such as the Quad, engage actively with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its individual members, including Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam; deepen relations with India; and redouble efforts to promote trilateral U.S.-Japan-Korea collaboration.

- Increasing economic engagement and opportunity. The United States should strive to obtain economically meaningful outcomes through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), devise supply chain resilience initiatives that foster cohesion with U.S. partners, partake in digital trade agreements, and restore trade liberalization to its policy toolkit. The United States should pursue membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to advance its economic and foreign policy interests, and it should coordinate with allies and partners to deliver infrastructure finance to enable regional connectivity in the physical and digital domains.

- Enhancing deterrence and sustaining the long peace. On Taiwan policy, the United States should enhance communication with both Beijing and Taipei to strengthen deterrence and reassurance and to establish conflict-avoidance measures. Given North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations, the United States must continue to reassure its allies, particularly South Korea, of its commitment to extended deterrence, while leaving room for engagement if the North Korean regime decides to return to the negotiation table. Since China is continuing to make aggressive moves to enforce its far-reaching sovereignty claims in the East China and South China seas, the United States must continue to assert the importance of a rules-based maritime order that includes freedom of the seas and unimpeded commerce.

RELATED CONTENT

The Great Hall of the People, where the National People's Congress will be held is seen in Beijing, March 5, 2015. Around 3,000 delegates to the annual meeting of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, will meet in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on March 5 for a session that normally lasts around 10 days. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - GM1EB350M8U01

INTERACTIVE

Global China

Monday, September 30, 2019

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks virtually with Chinese leader Xi Jinping from the White House in Washington, U.S. November 15, 2021.  REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

CHINA

A course correction in America’s China policy

Ryan Hass, Patricia M. Kim, and Jeffrey A. Bader November 2022

Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) transits the East China Sea during routine underway operations on Sunday Aug 28 2022. Chancellorsville is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, U.S Navy said in a statement. Two United States Navy warships - guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville - have entered the Taiwan Strait in what is the first US naval transit in the waterway since US-China tensions spiked this month over a visit to the island by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The warships were on Sunday Aug 28, 2022 making the voyage through the Taiwan Strait waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law, the US 7th Fleet in Japan said in a statement. The Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command said it was monitoring the two ships, maintaining a high alert and was ready to thwart any provocation. (U.S. Navy via EYEPRESS)

CHINA

Managing the risks of US-China war: Implementing a strategy of integrated deterrence

Michael E. O’Hanlon, Melanie W. Sisson, and Caitlin Talmadge September 2022

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

The authors would like to thank Laura McGhee and Jennifer Mason for their excellent assistance in the preparation of this brief.

Richard Bush headshot

Richard C. Bush

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center

madan tanvi

Tanvi Madan

Director - The India Project Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Project on International Order and Strategy

tanvi_madan

Mireya Solis headshot

Mireya Solís

Director - Center for East Asia Policy Studies Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies

solis_msolis

Jonathan Stromseth, Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies; Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center

Jonathan Stromseth

Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center

Andrew Yeo

Andrew Yeo

Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies

AndrewIYeo