The Risk of John Kerry Following His Own China Policy
Any progress on climate change will be lost if the frame is one of a grand bargain with Beijing.
By Thomas Wright
Fellow at the Brookings Institution
December 23, 2020
Competition with China will likely be the most difficult foreign-policy issue that President-elect Joe Biden will face. What he decides to lead with and the precise mix of areas in which he engages and confronts Beijing are critically important. This is why Biden’s choice of John Kerry as a special presidential envoy on climate change might create a problem for the incoming president on China policy.
Biden appointed Kerry, an old friend and trusted ally who came within a hair’s breadth of being elected president in 2004, and empowered him with an expansive mandate on an issue that touches virtually every other area in domestic and foreign policy. This appointment also gives him membership on the cabinet and the National Security Council, and authorization to use a military aircraft for his diplomacy. However, Biden does not yet appear to have defined the limits of Kerry’s role and explained how it will be integrated into the broader strategy. This has some of Biden’s other advisers worried.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/12/risk-john-kerry-following-his-own-china-policy/170974/
