China has refused to let US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visit Beijing over concerns that the FBI would release the results of an investigation into a downed suspected Chinese spy balloon, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing sources.
China told the US that it was not prepared to reschedule a trip that Blinken canceled in February while it remains unclear what the administration of US President Joe Biden would do with the report, the newspaper said, citing four people familiar with the negotiations.
Earlier this week, Blinken said he would pursue a visit to China when the conditions are right.
Photo: AFP
He also added that the goal is not to contain China or engage in a new cold war.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense said it could not confirm reports that a Chinese spy balloon had been able to transmit intelligence in real time back to China as it flew over sensitive military sites in the US earlier this year, adding that the probe was still ongoing.
China’s suspected surveillance balloon first passed into US airspace north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28. The balloon flew over the US and Canada for about a week before the US military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast.
The Financial Times report came as Blinken visited Vietnam, about 50 years after the last US combat troops left what was then South Vietnam.
Blinken said he seeks to bolster US ties with Vietnam, as it seeks to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
Blinken and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged to boost relations to new levels as they met just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of the US troop withdrawal that marked the end of the US’ direct military involvement in Vietnam.
Blinken broke ground on a sprawling new US$1.2 billion US embassy compound in Hanoi, a project that the Biden administration hopes would demonstrate its commitment to further improving ties less than 30 years after diplomatic relations were restored in 1995.
Despite concerns over Vietnam’s human rights record, Washington sees Hanoi as a key component of its strategy for the region and has sought to leverage Vietnam’s traditional rivalry with its much larger neighbor to expand US influence in the region.
“We now hope to be able to take [relations] to an even higher level,” Blinken said.
“This has been a very comprehensive and effective relationship and going forward we will continue to deepen relations,” Chinh said. “We highly appreciate the role and responsibility of the US towards the Asia Pacific, or, in a larger scheme, the Indo-Pacific.”
He added that Vietnam is keen to “further elevate our bilateral ties to a new height.”
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
A group affiliated with indicted Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) is to be dissolved for monitoring Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, a source said yesterday. Xu, the secretary-general of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance, was indicted on March 24 on charges of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). The alliance “illegally monitored" Chinese immigrants living in Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of the Interior is expected to dissolve the organization in the coming days under provisions of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), the source said. Xu, who married a Taiwanese in 1993 and became a Republic
RSS