For the kickoff of “Countering Chinese Communist Party Influence Around the World,” leading experts cover China’s own backyard—the Indo-Pacific—to lay the groundwork for their strategic interests and activity around the world. Vandenberg Coalition Executive Director Carrie Filipetti speaks with former Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Feith, and Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, for a closer look at China in the Indo-Pacific region. 

In this series, the Vandenberg Coalition shifts the focus beyond the Indo-Pacific and into various regions around the world where the Chinese Communist Party continues to threaten American interests. Each episode in the eight-part series discusses China’s growing influence in a given region, how it measures against American influence, how to define our relationship with the region in light of competing priorities, and what America can and should be doing to better protect and advance our national interests. 

Timestamps:

00:00:03 Opening by TVC Executive Director Carrie Filipetti 

00:01:03 China’s true aims in Xi’s own words 

00:02:23 Xi Jinping’s Leninist ideology 

00:05:00 Xi’s attack on the premise of sovereign nation-states 

00:06:20 Implications of a future world order with Beijing as central authority  

00:08:39 Increasing totalitarian nature of the CCP’s international statecraft 

00:11:57 U.S. presidential candidates’ campaign focus on China 

00:14:41 Candidates united on identifying the China challenge but differ in policy response 

00:16:17 Relation between U.S. semiconductor policy and defense of Taiwan 

00:16:53 Taiwan as prerequisite to dominance in the Indo-Pacific 

00:18:07 Impact of potential Chinese subjugation or invasion of Taiwan 

00:20:03 Potential invasion of Taiwan and the disruption to U.S. economy  

00:22:29 Debate on Taiwan in U.S. presidential campaigns 

00:26:01 Biden Administration’s recognition of the China problem and its implications 

00:26:59 Rhetoric in presidential campaigns around increased defense spending 

00:28:34 U.S. leadership of regional military coalitions in countering China 

00:31:24 Absence of Western economic coalitions in China strategy 

00:32:34 Comparison of U.S. and Chinese military spending and preparedness 

00:37:32 International implications of a ‘peaked’ China 

00:42:28 Americans’ historical tendency to underestimate adversaries 

00:45:49 China’s control of semiconductors and implications for U.S. supply chains 

00:46:38 Costs of ‘de-risking’ and impacts on U.S. national security  

00:48:46 China’s weaponization of critical mineral supplies 

00:52:49 China’s economic and security coercion 

00:53:34 The Biden Administration’s diplomatic approach in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East 

00:55:29 Need for a more active U.S. diplomatic approach in offering an alternative to China 

00:56:48 Credibility of U.S. commitment to allies 

00:59:32 Need for U.S. bilateral trade and investment agreements with TPP members 

01:01:38 U.S. ‘pivot’ of military resources to Asia 

01:03:33 Continued U.S. presence in the Middle East 

01:05:22 U.S. consultation of allies for defense posture, diplomacy, and economic policy 

01:09:51 Closing by TVC Executive Director Carrie Filipetti