Joe Biden sets up Pentagon task force to examine China ‘challenge’

The president of the United States, Joe Biden on Wednesday announced the formation of a Defense Department special task force on China and ordered an immediate review of the military’s strategic approach to Beijing.

Criticism will be added to others than the The Pentagon is already doing it, and it ranges from deploying troops in the Middle East to policy towards NATO.

During a visit to the Pentagon, Biden said the review was crucial to “be able to chart a solid course on issues related to China that will require a government-wide effort. “

“We have to face the growing challenges posed by China to maintain peace and defend our interests in the [océano] Indo-Pacific and in the world, ”he added.

The new working group will have four months to present a report that includes assessments and recommendations on the United States’ military strategy towards China. It will include areas such as technology, force structure and bilateral defense relations with Beijing.

The Democratic President said that The Pentagon review had to be approved by both political parties and Congress, as well as allies and other associations.

“This is how we will meet the challenge of China and make the American people win the competition in the future,” he said.

Washington and Beijing at odds on issues ranging from technology and human rights to military activities of the Asian giant in the disputed South China Sea, with each side accusing the other of deliberately provocative behavior.

Under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, the Pentagon has made the fight against China its top priority, something Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has announced will continue. And in fact, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate, Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Trump “was right” to take a “tougher stance on China”, although he also indicated his “disagreement” on the strategy of the Republican President “in many points”.

“The basic premise was correct,” he told senators of the firmness of the outgoing government. “We must face China from a position of strength, not of weakness”He noted that this involved “working with allies instead of denigrating them, participating and leading international institutions” instead of abandoning them.

TIC Tac

Outside the military realm, the Joe Biden administration also announced on Wednesday that Suspended plan to force TikTok to divest US assets while assessing the suspected security risks of the popular Chinese app, the daily reported on Wednesday The Wall Street Journal.

Citing unidentified sources, The outlet claimed the new government had indefinitely suspended plans to demand the sale of TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance., at US tech giant Oracle, with Walmart as its retail partner.

“It is not true to suggest that there is (in this case) a new stage” given by the administration BidenJen Psaki, a White House spokeswoman, responded at a press conference. “If we have any announcements to make, we will,” he added.

Psaki confirmed, as reported by the newspaper The Wall Street Journal, What The Biden administration examines former President Donald Trump’s efforts to address alleged national security risks posed by Chinese tech companies, including collecting data from US users.

With information from AFP

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