- Blinken says China is the most serious challenge to the global order
- In response, China says both can win with cooperation
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) – The United States will not stop China from growing its economy, but wants it to adhere to international standards, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a long-awaited speech on Thursday. the U.S. strategy to address China’s rise. as a great power.
Washington will not try to change China’s political system, but will uphold international law and institutions that maintain peace and security and make the coexistence of countries possible, he said.
“We are not looking for a conflict or a new Cold War. On the contrary, we are determined to avoid both,” Blinken said in a 45-minute speech at George Washington University, which covered the most controversial bilateral issues.
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US-China relations have collapsed in decades under former President Donald Trump and have worsened further under President Joe Biden, a Democrat who has kept the broad tariffs of his Republican predecessor. to Chinese goods as he sought closer ties with the Allies to retreat against Beijing. .
Seventeen months after his administration, Biden had faced criticism from Republicans and some foreign policy observers for failing to announce a formal strategy on China, the world’s second-largest economy and the country’s main strategic rival. Washington.
Foreign crises, including the disorderly withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan last year and Russia’s war in Ukraine, have created distractions for Biden, who has pledged not to let China overtake the United States as to world leader under his watch.
But his administration has tried to capitalize on the new alliance with the allies stimulated by the Ukraine crisis and the “limitless” partnership that China announced with Moscow a few weeks before Russia’s invasion of its neighbor on the 24th. of February.
“THE MOST SERIOUS LONG-TERM CHALLENGE”
Blinken said China represents “the most serious long-term challenge for international order.”
He outlined a strategy for investing in U.S. competitiveness and aligning with allies and partners to compete with China, and said that competition is “ours to lose.”
He said the Biden administration was willing to increase direct communication with Beijing through a wide range of issues and would “respond positively” if Chinese officials take steps to address concerns.
“But we cannot rely on Beijing to change its trajectory. So we will shape the strategic environment around Beijing to advance our vision of an open and inclusive international system,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken participates in a virtual bilateral meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta during a video conference at the State Department in Washington, USA, on April 27, 2021. REUTERS / Leah Millis / Pool / File Photo
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In response, the Chinese embassy in Washington said that the United States and China share “broad common interests and a deep potential for cooperation” and that “competition … should not be used to define the China-US relations overview “.
Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said: “China and the United States can win with cooperation and lose with confrontation.
He noted a virtual summit between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November and said the relationship was “at a critical junction”.
“We hope that the United States will work with China to seriously implement the common understanding that the two leaders have reached to improve communication, manage differences and focus on cooperation,” he said.
‘REPRESSIVE’ AND ‘AGGRESSIVE’
While Blinken credited the hard work of the Chinese people with their country’s historic economic transformation over the past four decades, he pointed directly to Xi Jinping, saying:
“Under President Xi, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad.”
Blinken’s speech coincided with the start of the Chinese Foreign Minister’s extensive tour of the Pacific island countries, a front that is increasingly tense in competition for influence between Beijing and Washington. Read more
The speech was postponed in early May after Blinken tested positive for COVID-19 and after a month of intense US-focused Indo-Pacific diplomacy, including Biden’s first trip as president to the United States. region. Read more
Blinken reiterated the United States’ commitment to a single Chinese policy on democratic Taiwan claimed by China, although Biden said earlier this week that the United States would be militarily involved if China attacked. Taiwan.
Washington has had a long-term policy of strategic ambiguity over whether to militarily defend Taiwan and Biden, and his aides later said their statements did not reflect a change in policy. Read more
Under the one-China policy, Washington officially recognizes Beijing diplomatically, although it is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Blinken said that did not change and that Washington did not support Taiwan’s independence.
“What has changed is Beijing’s growing coercion, such as trying to cut off Taiwan’s relations with countries around the world, and blocking its participation in international organizations,” he said. Chinese army near the island “deeply destabilizing.”
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Report by Michael Martina, Humeyra Pamuk, David Brunnstrom and Doina Chiacu; Edited by Stephen Coates and Howard Goller
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