U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington will remain focused on China as the most serious threat to international order despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In the first comprehensive articulation of the Biden administration’s policy towards Beijing, Blinken said that China was the only country with the intention and capabilities to reshape the international order and that it was doing so in a way that undermines global stability.
“Beijing’s vision would take us away from the universal values that have underpinned much of global progress over the past 75 years,” Blinken told the Washington Asia Society.
“Under President Xi, the Chinese Communist Party government has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad,” he said.
Blinken’s speech came at a time when relations between the United States and China were at their worst since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1979. In recent months, ties have been strained by the Beijing’s refusal to condemn Ukraine’s invasion of Moscow and its growing military ties with Russia. This week, Chinese and Russian nuclear-powered bombers flew together over the Sea of Japan while U.S. President Joe Biden was in Tokyo.
“Beijing’s defense of President Putin’s war to overthrow Ukraine’s sovereignty and secure a sphere of influence in Europe should sound the alarm to all those we call the Indo-Pacific region,” he said. Blinken.
The speech came after Biden’s first visit to Asia as president, a trip designed to boost his alliance-strengthening strategy to counter China. It included a meeting of the Quad, a security group made up of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India.
During his visit to Tokyo, Biden said the United States would intervene vigorously to defend Taiwan if attacked from China. The comments seemed to turn a decade-long policy under which the U.S. does not clarify whether it would defend Taiwan, and they arose as concerns grew that China might be encouraged to take military action.
But Blinken said US policy on Taiwan had not changed and that Washington was opposed to “any unilateral change in the status quo on either side.” He said the US had been consistent for decades, but China had changed.
“What has changed is Beijing’s growing coercion, such as trying to cut off Taiwan’s relations with countries around the world.” Blinken added that China was engaging in “increasingly provocative” activity by frequently flying warplanes near Taiwan. “They run the risk of miscalculations and threaten the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
Blinken said the administration had implemented a comprehensive strategy over the past year to counter China, but “did not seek conflict or a new Cold War.”
He described the US strategy on China as three elements: investing more nationally to strengthen industry and the economy; strengthen alliances; and assertively competing with China.
Blinken portrayed competition as a battle between two ideologies — democracy versus authoritarianism — but said Washington was not trying to change China.
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“We do not seek to transform China’s political system. Our task is to demonstrate once again that democracy can meet urgent challenges and create opportunities to advance human dignity, and that the future lies with those who believe in freedom.”
While the speech was largely a summary of previous policies, Blinken said the State Department would create a new China-centered team because of “the scope of the challenge posed by the People’s Republic of China.” , which would test American diplomacy. “Like nothing we’ve seen before.”
He said the United States was willing to step up communication with China on a number of issues, but “cannot trust Beijing” to change its course.
“Therefore, we will shape the strategic environment around Beijing to advance our vision of an open, inclusive international system,” Blinken said.
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