US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday singled out China as the only competitor of the US that can reshape the international order, and said that Washington has rallied allies to meet the challenges posed by Beijing, including by preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Speaking at an event to highlight “four of the most consequential areas” for diplomacy this year, Blinken said the US has accelerated strategic convergence with US allies and partners to counter the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
“This is crucial, for while Russia poses an immediate threat to the free and open international system, the PRC is our only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to advance that objective,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The US and the EU have bolstered cooperation on investment screening and export controls of sensitive and emerging technologies to meet key challenges posed by China, from economic coercion to human rights, Blinken said.
NATO members for the first time vowed to address “the systemic challenges posed by the PRC to Euro-Atlantic security” as they endorsed the alliance’s strategic concept for this year, Blinken said.
“We deepened the alliance’s coordination with Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and our other Pacific allies,” he said.
Photo: AP
“We’re united in our commitment to preserve peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and we continue to raise concerns and take joint action around the PRC’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet, [and] the erosion of freedom of speech and the press in Hong Kong,” he added.
The importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait has been highlighted at high-level talks between the US and its allies since US President Joe Biden took office in January last year.
This month alone, the topic was discussed at Biden’s meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Dec. 1, the second meeting of the EU-US Dialogue on China on Dec. 2, the US-Australia Ministerial Consultations on Dec. 6 and a diplomatic meeting between the US and Italy on Dec. 7.
Besides addressing the approach to China, Blinken said that the US has rallied the world to ensure that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a strategic failure, mobilized broad-based coalitions to deliver solutions to multiple global challenges, and used diplomacy to advance peace and to prevent and mitigate conflict.
Separately, Representative to Italy Lee Sing-ying (李新穎) yesterday thanked Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani after the top diplomat on Wednesday for the first time expressed Italy’s support for maintaining the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait.
The remarks showed that Tajani is concerned about maintaining peace, stability and prosperity across the Strait, Lee said.
Tajani, who also serves as Italian deputy prime minister, made the comment in an opening speech at a conference for Italian diplomats to affirm their commitment to national interests, transatlantic values and the EU.
Nearly 100 Italian envoys participated in the two-day event, including Italian Representative to Taiwan Davide Giglio, who took part via teleconference from Taipei.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
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