In trip to China’s backyard, Biden team tests its ‘values’ policy

Talk of alliances and democratic values makes for inspiring rhetoric. But can the Biden administration’s new foreign policy stand up to the rigors of strategic competition with China?

When a catastrophic tsunami struck Indonesia’s Aceh Province in 2004, killing more than 200,000 people and uprooting hundreds of thousands more, the United States marshaled the forces of partners Japan, Australia, and India to launch one of the largest and most comprehensive disaster aid efforts ever undertaken.

The initiative saved lives and rebuilt communities across the affected Indian Ocean region. It demonstrated...