Who's Mark Lambert and How Could He Influence Biden's China Policy?
18:05 GMT 30.08.2023 (Updated: 15:47 GMT 01.09.2023)
© AP Photo / Andy Wong
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Mark Lambert is a US veteran diplomat who has been reportedly picked as the US State Department's top China official. Does he suit the job?
Lambert may be named as the deputy assistant secretary for China and Taiwan, the US mainstream media has said, citing sources familiar with the issue.
Previously, the veteran diplomat has served as a deputy assistant secretary focused on Japanese, Korean and Mongolian affairs, and on relations with Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Per the US State Department's website, Lambert has an extensive diplomatic experience in East Asia. Besides, he appears to be an expert in military matters too. He served twice in Beijing, "most recently managing US political military affairs with China." He also has served as "political military officer" in Bangkok and Tokyo and as "a science and technology officer" on the State Department’s Japan Desk. Furthermore, while attached to the United Nations, Lambert was a weapons inspector in Iraq.
The Chinese press suspects that Lambert "could be more of an intelligence officer than a regular diplomat," and his appointment could be part of the US' efforts to rebuild its intelligence networks in East Asia. Referring to Lambert's missions in Bangkok and Tokyo, the Chinese media suggests that the two cities "happen to be US intelligence hubs in Asia."
It's hardly surprising that the forthcoming appointment is met with an air of distrust in China, given that Sino-American relations have been deteriorating over the past several years.
"Lambert is a career diplomat, speaks several Asian languages and had two stints in Beijing. One was the Political Military Officer and the other for human rights. With other previous political military posts around East Asia, Beijing might find this intriguing, given all the weapons Washington is sending Taiwan," Jeff J. Brown, China expert, author of The China Trilogy, and editor at China Rising Radio Sinoland, told Sputnik.
Brown noted that in June, Lambert's apparent predecessor Rick Waters left the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan. However, Waters is still listed as Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and the Pacific, so is Lambert’s immediate boss, with Daniel Kritenbrink above them, as assistant secretary for East Asia and the Pacific, the expert continued. He added that Kritenbrink answers to the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
"Last year, a new Department of State bureau was created, the Office of China Coordination, popularly called the 'China House', to try to harmonize and unify US policy towards China, which President Biden calls 'intense competition'. Rick Waters is still the head of China House," Brown noted.
What is Washington's China House?
"China House was created (…) probably due to the United States continually being unable to ruffle Beijing’s feathers, be it diplomatically, commercially, financially and technology-wise. Analysts are reporting that China House is floundering a bit, trying to harmonize the White House, Congress, Departments of State, Defense, Commerce, Justice, Treasury, Agriculture and the CIA/NSA complex. This has always been a weakness in US foreign policy, lacking a sense of cooperation and common goals, since each of the above is vying for turf, one-upmanship, influence, and funding," Brown continued.
If one takes a look at China House's stated goals, one would see that it was established to manage "the scale and the scope of the challenge" posed by the People's Republic, said Dr. Mignonne Man-jung Chan, Research Fellow & Deputy Director of Taiwan Center for Security Studies, National Chengchi University and former Senior Security Advisor to then-Taiwan President, Ma Ying-jeou.
"It also focuses on the enhancement of the FOIP (Free & Open Indo-Pacific)," the professor added, while speaking to Sputnik.
The body's goals are in line with Washington's increasingly assertive policy in the Asia-Indo-Pacific region, where the US is actively creating new alliances and new military clusters.
26 August 2023, 01:43 GMT
How Could Lambert's Appointment Change US' China Policy?
"The new appointment of Mark Lambert should not have a big difference in the US China policy, which marks incremental change based mainly on bilateral interaction and needs of both countries," Dr. Mignonne Man-jung Chan highlighted.
"US China policy has always been driven by the White House, Congress and more and more, NATO. The collective West is increasingly desperate to derail China’s 70-year progress and development," echoed Brown.
Therefore, it's likely that Lambert will continue the China strategy set by Team Biden: on the one hand, the military wing of the US administration is openly speaking about the "deterrence" in the "Indo-Pacific" and calls the People's Republic its longstanding challenge; on the other hand, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are trying to persuade Beijing that Washington does not want to contain China and that the Sino-American trade relationship is highly valued in Washington.
However, given Beijing's increasing economic and political activities in Eurasia, China neither trusts Washington's assurances nor fears US threats. Time will tell whether Team Biden will eventually shift from a zero-sum to a win-win scenario.
15 August 2023, 14:59 GMT
