WASHINGTON — The Biden administration increasingly believes that China is gauging the U.S. response to the Ukraine crisis as a proxy for how America would deal with more aggressive action by Beijing against Taiwan, according to three senior officials.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s decision to go forward with plans to visit Australia this week despite surging Russia-Ukraine tensions was driven by a couple of issues. One was to emphasize that the administration’s efforts to reorient its policies toward Asia won’t be deterred even by the prospect of war in Europe.
The other came from a recognition that America’s longer-term security interests in the Indo-Pacific — where it has sought to bolster new alliances — are also tied to how effectively it can respond to crises elsewhere, according to the officials.
