Washington - (AFP) - The United States confirmed Wednesday that it will prioritize superiority over China , which it considers its only global competitor, at a time when it is also working to rein in "dangerous" Russia .

The White House declared in its national security strategy, whose publication was delayed due to the conflict in Ukraine, that the 2020s will be a "critical decade for America and the world" in order to reduce conflicts and confront the major common threat of climate change.

"We will prioritize maintaining a lasting competitive advantage over the People's Republic of China while constraining Russia, which remains very dangerous," the strategy said.

"The most pressing strategic challenge to our vision comes from the forces that combine authoritarian rule with a revisionist foreign policy," the report stated.

He added that Russia under President Vladimir Putin "poses a direct threat to the free and open international order, and today it recklessly violates the basic laws of the international system, as demonstrated by its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine."

As for China, "in contrast, it is the only competitor that has the intention to reshape the international order and (has) increasing economic, diplomatic, military and technological strength to achieve this goal."

The strategy is largely consistent with the interim directives set by the US administration shortly after Biden took office in January 2021, even as it has focused most of this year on rallying allies against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and supplying the latter with billions of dollars in weapons.

"I don't think the war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed Joe Biden's approach to foreign policy, which he adopted long before he became president," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

"But I think it illustrates the core elements of our approach - the focus on allies, the importance of strengthening the democratic world, and standing up for friendly democracies and democratic values," he told reporters.

The strategy shows the United States' willingness to work even with competitors to achieve common interests, amid climate change talks the Biden administration is conducting with China, the largest emitter of carbon emissions.

She described climate change as "the existential challenge of our time".

But the White House stressed the dangers from China, warning that its rapid technological progress aims to shape the world order in a way that supports its "authoritarian model".

Despite Beijing's repeated denials that it seeks hegemony, the US strategic document considers that China has "ambitions to create an enhanced sphere of influence in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and to become the leading power in the world."

The White House also linked a rising China to Biden's pledges to prioritize the middle class in the United States, saying Beijing seeks to make the world dependent on its economy while limiting access to its market of more than a billion consumers.

The strategy pledges to make major investments at home, two months after Biden signed a $52 billion package to improve US semiconductor capacity, but also stressed that the US seeks "peaceful coexistence" with China and "responsibly" manages competition with it.

Jake Sullivan continued, "We do not seek to turn the competition into confrontation or a new Cold War, and we do not consider any country as a mere proxy battlefield."

The release of the strategy comes as Joe Biden vows to reassess ties with decades-old U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, which has moved to cut oil production — benefiting energy exporter Russia and potentially raising fuel prices for American consumers weeks before midterm congressional elections.

Under reconciliation between Israel and Gulf Arab states, the strategy called for a "more integrated Middle East" that would reduce in the long run the "resource demands" of the United States that have protected oil-producing countries for decades.

Sullivan said that Biden, who made a controversial visit to Saudi Arabia in June, will question whether the nature of the relationship with the kingdom "serves the interests and values of the United States" and whether changes should be made to it.