US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Thursday condemned China’s challenging of European security, economy and values, calling on Europe to help the US counter competition from Beijing.
“Even before [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping, 習近平] and [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin declared their ‘no limits’ partnership in February, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] has challenged Europe’s security, Europe’s economy and Europe’s values,” Sherman, speaking from Washington, told European reporters by video link.
Sherman’s comments came in the wake of a speech by her boss, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who recently identified Beijing as the main threat to world order, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Washington accuses Beijing of wanting to reshape the world order.
In a speech on Wednesday last week, Blinken said Washington was engaged in vigorous competition with Beijing to preserve the current world order.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has spoken of the need to pressure China to play by the rules, including in its South China Sea and trade disputes.
“While Beijing may be thousands of miles away ... the PRC’s actions matter just as much for the future of Europe,” Sherman said, welcoming current cooperation with Europe while still seeking to “align our approaches.”
“We are all looking at issues of supply chains,” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, she added.
“The US is not seeking conflict” with China nor to “sever our economy from the PRC,” she said.
“We don’t want a new cold war,” but “we can’t rely on Beijing to change its behavior,” Sherman said.
The US is being vigilant over the alliance between Russia and China, threatening Beijing “with consequences” if the Chinese authorities ever decide to send military equipment to Russia, she added.
“Quite frankly, I think Russia and Putin will be a pariah for a very long time and I’m not sure the PRC will benefit,” she said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique