United States (US) President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday appointed foreign policy expert Kurt Campbell by creating a new position within the National Security Council (NSC) which will focus on challenges in the Indo-Pacific region that emerge from China, news agency Reuters reported.
Kurt Campbell is a former top Pentagon official and has served as an assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs during the Obama administration.
"I can confirm Kurt will be Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific at the NSC," a spokeswoman for Biden's transition told Reuters.
According to media reports, Biden was already thinking of creating this new position in the White House because of the rising importance attached to tackling a range of challenges from China,
"It was “partly taken because of the need to better integrate China policy across different government agencies with a veteran Asia expert at the helm,” a person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
He also added, "Biden recognised that China was an issue that every government agency not just the traditional foreign policy, defence and economic-related departments would have to grapple with more than in the past”.
Now, after holding the position, Campbell will be reporting to Jake Sullivan who is the incoming security adviser and he will have several coordinators who will have more authority than 'senior coordinators'.
