Top Biden China aide set for long-planned departure amid heightened tension with Beijing

By Betsy Klein, CNN

A top Biden administration China expert is set to depart the administration after two years as special assistant to the president and senior director for China and Taiwan, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

Laura Rosenberger will be leaving her post soon, a White House official confirmed to CNN, marking a high-profile departure as tense US-China relations have been exacerbated by the flight of a Chinese surveillance balloon and other aerial objects of still-unknown origin.

Rosenberger, the official said, has “played a critical role in shaping US strategy and policy on China, working closely with the president, NSC leadership, the broader NSC team, and the interagency.”

Her departure was first reported by Bloomberg News.

President Joe Biden has made strategic competition with China a hallmark of his presidency, frequently emphasizing his belief that the world is at an “inflection point” in the fight between autocracies and democracies. After serious efforts to try to reset US-China relations, including a meeting between Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping in Indonesia last November, the spy balloon episode has inflamed ties and will present immediate challenges to Rosenberger’s successor.

The balloon incident has done “nothing to help improve US-China bilateral relations,” National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told reporters last week.

The White House official noted that Rosenberger’s exit plans “have long been in the works and have nothing to do with the PRC spy balloon incident.”

Rosenberger will be succeeded in her position by Sarah Beran, who comes to the NSC from the State Department, where she was the senior director for China and Taiwan, the White House official said. Rush Doshi will serve as deputy senior director for China and Taiwan.

Rosenberger was also responsible during her time at the White House for “(strengthening) our unofficial relations with Taiwan, broadening and deepening our engagement consistent with our longstanding policy,” the official said. That tenure was marked by the White House’s continued “strategic ambiguity” policy, despite repeated remarks — followed by prompt White House walkbacks — from Biden that the US would be willing to intervene militarily should China attack Taiwan.

“Under President Biden, we are more prepared to outcompete China and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific than ever before. Since the first day of the administration, Laura’s skilled diplomacy and tenacity have been essential to this administration priority, and we are immensely grateful for her service,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Wednesday.

Rosenberger’s next steps, the White House official noted, “will be forthcoming.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.