US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week is to pay his second visit in less than a year to China, where he is to ask Beijing to avoid “provocative” measures during next month’s inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德).
Blinken’s trip from Wednesday through Friday marks a further lowering of US-China friction that soared under former US president Donald Trump.
However, US President Joe Biden, while seeking greater stability between the world’s two largest economies, has kept up the pressure.
Photo: AP
In the days ahead of Blinken’s trip, Biden met jointly with the leaders of US allies Japan and the Philippines, both wary of China, and moved to raise steel tariffs on a “cheating” China.
“We are in a different place than we were a year ago when the bilateral relationship was at an historic low point,” a senior US official told reporters ahead of the trip announcement.
“We’ve set out to stabilize the bilateral relationship without sacrificing our capacity to strengthen our alliances, compete vigorously and defend our interests,” he said on customary condition of anonymity.
Amid the issues expected to be discussed is Taiwan, particularly Lai’s inauguration.
“Our expectation will be, particularly during this important and sensitive time leading up to the May 20 inauguration, that all countries will contribute to peace and stability, avoid taking provocative actions that may raise tensions, and demonstrate restraint,” the official said.
US officials quietly believe that improved US-China relations helped avoid worse-case scenarios of Chinese pressure during the elections in January.
Also high on Blinken’s agenda would be what US officials say is a major push by China that has helped Russia, in the throes of the Ukraine invasion, carry out its biggest militarization since Soviet times.
Blinken is to take the message directly to Beijing after encouraging European allies to make their concerns known with China, which is seen as eager for smooth relations with the West as it faces economic headwinds.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
RSS