The Joe Biden administration of the United States has launched its new "China House", or the Office of China Coordination, at the State Department, to replace the previous China Desk, which no doubt indicates the significance the present US administration attaches to its China policy.
Compared to the China Desk, which was part of the State Department's East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau, the new "China House" is obviously meant to play a bigger role in intra-department coordination.
It will reportedly have three main teams: one focused on traditional bilateral affairs; one that deals with strategic communication; and one "global "team, which focuses on Chinese activity overseas.
Considering the US administration's positioning of China as a pacing competitor and its national security strategy placing so much emphasis on competition with China, there is no surprise in Washington taking such a move. The role Washington has assigned Beijing naturally calls for the old China Desk to be revamped. The real issue with US China policy, however, has little to do with what institution is charged with the matter, but a lot to do with how its occupants see China and evaluate relations with China. Since things have gone wrong at multiple levels in multiple aspects when it comes to the US' perception of China over recent years, reason is increasingly a scarcity in Washington's China policy circles.
The China House, for its idea to convene experts and China hands across the board to better inform US decision-making, certainly has a chance to make a positive change. But it won't be easy. After all, from the White House to Capitol Hill, today's political consensus in Washington is in favor of upbraiding China.
Beijing's proposals about stabilizing the relationship, on the other hand, have all but fallen on deaf ears. Although both Beijing and Washington say they are not seeking a new Cold War, with both sides vowing strategic communication and crisis management, the reality is the chill is settling in. Beijing is annoyed that Washington has been constantly escalating tensions over the past two years or so. The problem is not what institution Washington has coordinating the matter, but whether it can develop an objective perception of China, treating China for what it is and what it is doing, rather than what the China hawks think China is and imagine it is doing.
Many of the mutual perceptions of China and the US are problematic, because people hardly bother to check the reality when they can easily attract eyeballs with some sensational claim or other.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken presiding over the official opening of the unit on Friday, said it will ensure the US is able to "responsibly manage" competition with China. It is to be hoped that is indeed the case, and that the China House does not lapse into the easier course of entrenching its predecessor's lowest common denominator approach that curried bipartisan favor at the expense of meaningful engagement with Beijing.