The United States must defend open and safe sea lanes in the Arctic and South China Sea, President Joe Biden said Wednesday (May 19). The Biden administration is seeking to take a leadership role in setting norms of behavior at a time when countries like Russia and China are seeking to strengthen their control over those waters.
“Ensuring the unimpeded flow of global commerce is critical to U.S. foreign policy interests,” Biden said Wednesday in his first commencement address since becoming president at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. “This won’t happen if we don’t actively develop norms of behavior that shape them around democratic values rather than the values of autocrats.”
President Biden emphasized the important role that U.S. Coast Guardsmen play in setting norms of behavior.
“Your mission – your mission will become more global, and more important, as we work with our democratic partners around the world to update the rules for this new era and hold us all accountable for following them,” he said.
He also said the United States is an Arctic nation. As the Arctic ice melts and new sea routes open, its strategic importance is rapidly increasing, making the U.S. need for Coast Guardsmen to play a role in the Arctic even greater.
“The United States must demonstrate our leadership and engagement, our diplomacy and our operational skills. We must continue to set an example of responsible maritime behavior, uphold clear rules of international agreement, and protect and manage this native environment to preserve it for future generations,” Biden said.
In a show of return to U.S. leadership in the Arctic and to counter the Arctic ambitions of Russia and China, Secretary of State Blinken kicked off a trip to northern Europe this week and attended a meeting of Arctic Council foreign ministers in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.
The number and scope of Russian military exercises near NATO airspace and in the Arctic are on the rise. At a joint briefing with Icelandic Foreign Minister Thurdarson on Tuesday, Blinken expressed concern about some of the increased military activities in the Arctic, saying they “undermine the common goal of a peaceful and sustainable future for the region.
China has also been steadily increasing its influence in the Arctic. China has sent naval vessels to the Arctic in recent years and has built its first icebreaker.
Michael McCaul (R-Ariz.), the ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement Wednesday supporting continued U.S. involvement in the Arctic. He said with Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council, U.S. involvement and leadership in the Arctic is more important than ever.
“Russia and the Communist Party of China are increasing their malign influence in the region, testing the limits of the United States and our allies in the region. It is important that this administration recognize the strategic competition playing out in the Arctic, called what it is, and act quickly to counter it to ensure that the Arctic remains a safe, environmentally friendly and stable region,” said Rep. McCaul.
In addition to the Arctic, the United States and its allies have responded to China’s expanding military presence in the South China Sea, including sending aircraft carrier battle groups into the South China Sea for routine operations and holding joint military exercises.
In his remarks, President Biden told Coast Guard Academy graduates that they play a central role in U.S. efforts to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region. He said the new agreement for U.S. Coast Guard cooperation with Taiwan will help ensure they are better able to respond to common threats in the region and conduct coordinated humanitarian environmental missions.
The U.S. leader also criticized, without naming names, China’s distant-water fishing vessels for overfishing.
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