Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy sealed China off from the outside world for almost three years. Joshua Busby, a Biden-era climate advisor to the Pentagon and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, recently returned from the second of two post-pandemic tours of Chinese electric vehicle factories. The changes he has seen should worry the U.S.
A deconstructed Xiaomi SU7 displayed at the Auto China in Beijing, China, April 24, 2026. Credit: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
As a senior climate advisor to the U.S. Department of Defense from 2021 to 2023, my major role was integrating climate and energy concerns into the National Defense Strategy and other strategic documents. President Joe Biden saw China as the pacing threat against which America’s grand strategy had to prepare, and my office focused on how climate impacts would impact allies and partners. That, increasingly, was seen through the lens of strategic competition with China.
Joshua Busby att
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