Date: Thursday 7 July 2022
Time: 5.00 – 6.30pm AEST
Location: In-person and online
The Biden administration’s policy toward the Indo-Pacific region is taking shape now, with the release of the Indo-Pacific Strategy in February 2022, Biden’s launching of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework on May 23, and the much anticipated China speech by Secretary of State Blinken on May 26.
The Indo-Pacific strategy aims at maintaining a free and open regional order and focuses heavily on competition with China through the so-called “12345 scheme” – One superpower, Bilateral alliances, AUKUS, QUAD, and Five Eyes. Is the Indo-Pacific strategy inclusive or divisive for the region? Will the Biden administration achieve its objectives outlined in the strategy? How have regional countries responded to the strategy so far?
This presentation will critically examine the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and discuss its inherent contradictions. Countries in the region have reacted differently, with many of them hedging and balancing between the United States and China, which suggests that it will not be easy for the Biden administration to achieve its objectives.
About the Speaker
Zhiqun Zhu is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University. His research interests include Chinese politics and foreign policy, East Asian political economy, and U.S.-Asian relations. He is the author and editor of over a dozen books, including A Critical Decade: China’s Foreign Policy 2008-2018 (2019); China’s New Diplomacy: Rationale, Strategies and Significance (2013); and US-China Relations in the 21st Century: Power Transition and Peace (2005). He has received many research fellowships and grants, including a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to Australia.