Spratly Islands

President Joe Biden’s China policy is coming into focus. As some of us predicted before his inauguration, he appears to be continuing the previous administration’s hard-line stance with Beijing—suggesting that the COVID-19 crisis marks a turning point akin to how the communist bloc’s attempt to seize West Berlin and South Korea solidified bipartisan commitment to waging the Cold War.

The National Security Strategy says China’s economic and military actions risk diminishing the sovereignty of many states in the Indo-Pacific. The US Navy has a role in defending these states’ rights.