Month: May 2022

Transcript: U.S. Approach to the People’s Republic of China

Except from Secretary Blinken’s speech

We are not looking for conflict or a new Cold War.  To the contrary, we’re determined to avoid both.

We don’t seek to block China from its role as a major power, nor to stop China – or any other country, for that matter – from growing their economy or advancing the interests of their people.

But we will defend and strengthen the international law, agreements, principles, and institutions that maintain peace and security, protect the rights of individuals and sovereign nations, and make it possible for all countries – including the United States and China – to coexist and cooperate.

Now, the China of today is very different from the China of 50 years ago, when President Nixon broke decades of strained relations to become the first U.S. president to visit the country.

Full Transcripts

Democracy Is Dying: ‘You Don’t Have the Time’

President Joe Biden revealed that after being elected to the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping cautioned him that democracies are on the decline and that one day “autocracies will run the world.”

“We’re living through a global struggle between autocracies and democracies,” Biden said during his commencement address to the U.S. Naval Academy’s graduating class. Newsweek

Ukraine war could boost tensions between U.S., China over Taiwan

Blinken made a major statement on U.S. foreign policy on Thursday at George Washington University. It received a great deal of attention, internationally — not least because reporters and foreign policy analysts wanted to know whether Blinken would clarify remarks made earlier in the week by President Joe Biden to the effect that the United States would take military action to defend Taiwan if China launched an invasion. MSN

Possible talks between U.S. & Taiwan ‘in a few weeks’

Taiwan and the United States could begin talks to deepen trade and economic ties “in a few weeks,” two senior Taiwanese government officials told CNN on Friday.
The new discussions will “explore concrete ways to deepen the US-Taiwan trade and investment relationship,” the officials said, with the focus on institutionalizing cooperation in supply chain resilience, labor, environment and sustainable development. CNN

‘Strategic confusion’ hurts Taiwan

…the US should embrace “strategic clarity” and confirm that the superpower would defend Taiwan and gather like-minded powers to preserve regional security should China risk an all-out war. As China has become more assertive, the US cannot rely solely on economic sanctions or Beijing’s concerns about being condemned.

The US was naive in supporting China’s global integration, hoping that China could become a responsible stakeholder. Washington has paid a price for China’s growing belligerence and its deliberate attempt to overlook its assurances. Taipeitimes.com