On the eve of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, several Senate committees will hold confirmation hearings Tuesday (Jan. 19) on five of President-elect Biden’s Cabinet nominees, including Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken. They are all expected to be asked questions about how to deal with the Chinese Communist threat at the hearing. Some analysts believe that if the nominations are finally confirmed, Blinken, who has long served as Biden’s right hand in foreign policy, will have the full trust and support of the White House and become a Secretary of State who will have a great influence on the President’s decisions.
If confirmed, Blinken will become Biden’s foreign policy helmsman
The 58-year-old Blinken has held many positions in the foreign policy arena, including Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy Assistant for National Security during the Obama administration, and has extensive diplomatic experience. But few incoming secretaries of state have the 20-year relationship with the president they serve that Blinken has.
Blinken has served as an adviser to Biden since 2002. During the Bush administration, Blinken was the staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was chaired by then-Delaware Senator Biden.) Under Obama, he served as national security adviser to then-Vice President Biden. During the 2020 presidential election, Blinken served as Biden’s campaign adviser.
Analysts believe that if the nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Blinken’s relationship with Biden will allow him to have more autonomy in negotiating with U.S. allies and adversaries with the full authorized support of the White House. Analysis generally expects that President-elect Biden, who is expected to focus more on domestic issues such as dealing with the new crown epidemic and restoring the U.S. economy in the early days of his administration, will likely rely on his chief diplomatic national security team to develop foreign policy strategy.
The Wall Street Journal reported that during his nomination confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, Blinken plans to outline a vision for a central role for the United States in addressing global issues, using coalitions and international institutions to expand influence and promote a foreign policy vision that benefits middle-class Americans.
Pence, Pompeo Urge New Administration to Continue Tough Policy on China
Analysis suggests that Blinken is expected to be asked at the hearing how the United States is responding to the current challenges it faces, particularly the threat from the Chinese Communist Party. For the past several decades, a consensus in Washington has been that engagement with China on economic and cultural fronts, among others, would allow China to become more democratic and open politically, but few believe in that consensus anymore.
In a farewell address Saturday, outgoing Vice President Mike Pence urged the incoming Biden administration to be vigilant about China, to stand up to Beijing’s military provocations and improper trade practices, and to ensure freedom and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently took to Twitter to summarize the Trump administration’s moves on addressing the Chinese Communist threat, including closing the Chinese consulate in Houston, sanctioning Chinese officials for human rights violations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, lifting self-imposed restrictions on interactions between U.S. and Taiwanese officials, designating Chinese official media and Confucius Institutes as foreign missions, not recognizing most of China’s claims to the South China Sea, imposing tariffs on Chinese goods, and restricting access to U.S. technology and capital by companies such as huawei that have ties to the Chinese military.
The core of Blinken’s consistent diplomatic philosophy has been to strengthen alliances, reshape U.S. international leadership, and value the promotion of democracy and human rights. His advocacy on China policy also fits with this core philosophy, including advocating strengthening U.S. alliances, elevating U.S. leadership in international organizations, leveraging these alliances and the multilateral system to pressure China, and emphasizing putting democracy and human rights at the key of China policy and pushing back more forcefully against Beijing on these issues.
On the tariff issue, for example, Blinken said that tariffs could be used in coordination with allies, and at the same time emphasized the role that multilateral institutions like the WTO could play in dealing with China’s unfair trade practices.
In the wake of Hong Kong’s mass arrests earlier this month, Blinken tweeted his support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers and activists. He said, “The mass arrests of pro-democracy protesters are an assault on those brave enough to call for universal rights. The Biden-Harris administration will stand with the people of Hong Kong against Beijing’s crackdown on democracy.”
But Blinken has said that China is a challenge but should not be completely decoupled. He sees a need for the two countries to cooperate on global issues such as climate change, arms control and epidemics. He stressed, however, that cooperation presupposes that the United States “engage China from a position of strength,” which means strengthening the United States itself, “so that the relationship moves forward more on our terms than on theirs.”
On the specific policy level, Blinken did not have much to say. Whether and how he would “reset” relations with Beijing, and the extent to which he would renew those sanctions and measures of his predecessor, will likely be addressed at Tuesday’s hearing.
Biden’s Cabinet picks to face unprecedented China bombardment
While this hearing is taking place, the Senate Intelligence, Armed Services, Homeland Security and Finance Committees will also hold separate hearings on several other Biden nominees for Cabinet, including Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Defense Secretary Admiral Lloyd Austin, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
A report in Politico last December said Biden’s nominees are expected to face an unprecedented bombardment of questions on China. The report quoted congressional sources as saying that the Biden team has been emphasizing the need to work with allies and partners to join forces against Beijing or the need to increase U.S. power itself, but if the hearings also consist of such generalities, it is likely that they will not satisfy senators.
Some indications are that nominees who have served in past administrations may face tougher questioning on China, the report said. Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse said in a statement, “Nominees who have served in national security positions and are now returning must be able to explain how their views on China have changed in response to changes in China. What was wrong with their perceptions of China in their previous positions and why was it wrong? How would their jobs be different if they had that perception of China then that they have now? How would they be responding to China now?”
During Tuesday’s hearing, Blinken may also be asked questions about his consulting firm, WestExec Advisors. The firm, which was co-founded in 2017 by Blinken and Michele Flournoy, along with two other officials from the Obama administration, has a business that includes managing “China-related risks in an era of strategic competition” and providing strategic advice to U.S. companies operating in the Chinese market. The firm’s business includes providing strategic advice to U.S. companies on their operations in China in an “era of strategic competition and China-related risk.
The firm has been scrutinized by Republican lawmakers and aides. Sen. Rubio of Florida, who is acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, has said, “America will not be stronger or more secure if its foreign policy and national security institutions are led by people who have just been paid for enabling American businesses to do business with the Communist Party of China.”
Haynes, Biden’s nominee to be director of national intelligence, also worked for this company.
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