U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to assign former senior State Department official Kurt Campbell to a new Asia-related position in the National Security Council, The Washington Post said Wednesday.
Campbell will join the administration with the title of "Indo-Pacific coordinator," a job that will give him broad management over the NSC directorates that cover various parts of Asia and China-related issues, it said, citing Biden transition officials as sources.
Campbell will report directly to incoming National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the officials were quoted as saying. The Biden NSC will have several of these "coordinators," who will have more authority than the "senior directors" below them, according to the newspaper.
The move should reassure nervous Asian allies that the Biden administration is taking the China challenge seriously, according to The Washington Post.
Campbell was assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs under the administration of former President Barack Obama, during which Biden served as vice president.
He is known as an architect of the Asia-Pacific "pivot" or "rebalancing" strategy pursued by Obama, a phrase used to signal a focus on the region amid China's rise.
He is also well-versed in issues related to U.S. military bases in Japan, having been involved in revising the guidelines for defense cooperation between the two nations.
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