KURT CAMPBELL

President Obama called for a greater focus on Asia to prepare for the challenges of the 21st century. A decade later, Obama's vice president, now President Biden, seems intent on making it happen.

White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said the US supports a strong unofficial relationship with Taiwan

Australia's treasurer says his country will always put its national interests ahead of economic interests in its troubled relationship with China.

The U.S.-China relationship should not be viewed as a "new cold war," White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell said at an Asia Society event.

Russia Thursday blocked at least two European planes from landing in Moscow because they planned to avoid Belarusian airspace after Belarus diverted a Lithuania-bound flight to detain a government dissident on Monday, U.S. News reports.Why it matters: The move comes after the EU told European airlines not to fly over Belarus, and appears to seek to undermine the bloc's response to the country's strongman leader Aleksandr Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeContext: EU leaders have described Lukashenko ordering the diversion of the Ryanair flight to arrest journalist Raman Pratasevich as a "hijacking," as did the CEO of Ryanair.Lukashenko claimed this week the action was necessary to quell a bomb threat.The UN's civil aviation agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), said in a statement the landing "could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention," a treaty protecting airspace sovereignty.The EU, in addition to telling European airlines not to fly over Belarus, banned Belarusian airlines and promised more economic sanctions on the country.The big picture: Russia on Thursday blocked an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna and an Air France flight from Paris from landing in Moscow.The Kremlin denied any involvement in the detention of Pratasevich but did not criticize Lukashenko's actions. Go deeper ... Biden: U.S. will coordinate with the EU on Belarus responseMore from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

President Joe Biden has beefed up his foreign policy team with several experts on Asia — a move analysts said signals renewed efforts to raise U.S. standing in a region where China's influence is growing. The Biden administration has identified a rising and more assertive China as one of its biggest foreign policy challenges, and stressed the importance of allies in responding to the strategic competition posed by Beijing. China policy in 2021 I think is actually gonna be about ally policy. He was widely credited for the Obama administration's pivot to Asia — a strategy seen faltering during Donald Trump's term. Potential U.S. strategy in the Indo-PacificWhile the Biden administration has not laid out a foreign policy blueprint for Asia, Campbell offered some insights in an article he co-wrote for Foreign Affairs magazine last month.