Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden‘s nominee for secretary of state, testifies at a nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 19.
New U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked by the media on Monday (Feb. 1) whether there would be future military confrontations with the Chinese Communist Party over the situation in the Taiwan Strait, to which he replied, “It’s completely within our control.”
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Blinken was pressed by the host to say that he had said during his nomination hearings that China (the Chinese Communist Party) was the most significant threat to U.S. national interests; so if China (the Chinese Communist Party) took any action against Taiwan, would the U.S. take action? Is a military confrontation with China (CCP) possible in the future?
Blinken replied, “There’s no question that China (CCP) poses the most significant challenge to us than any other country, but it’s a complex challenge. There is a confrontational aspect to this relationship, and there is certainly a competitive aspect to it, along with some aspects that can be cooperative. But whether we’re dealing with any of those aspects of the relationship, we have to be able to approach China (the Chinese Communist Party) from a position of strength, not weakness.”
He again reiterated Biden’s coalition strategy against the Communist Party. “I think that strength comes from having strong alliances that China (the CCP) doesn’t have; actually participating in world affairs and showing up in these international institutions, because when we pull out, China (the CCP) fills in and then they become the party that sets the rules and norms of those institutions.” He said.
Blinken said, “We need to stand up for our values when China (the Chinese Communist Party) challenges them, including suppressing Uighurs in Xinjiang or democracy in Hong Kong; securing our military layout so we can stop Chinese aggression; and investing in our people so they can fully compete.”
Blinken is confident that a military confrontation with the Chinese Communist Party will be avoided. He said, “The good news is that each of these is well within our control.”
He added, “In fact, when there are stronger alliances, engaging the world, standing up for our values, investing in our people, making sure our military layouts are in place, we can build back to a better state in that area as well.”
The Biden Administration‘s political mantra is Build Back Better (BBB).
In terms of specific foreign policy toward China, the Biden administration differs from the Trump administration’s “mistrust + confirmation” principle in that the Trump Administration emphasizes confronting CCP misconduct head-on, while the Biden administration emphasizes the possibility of cooperation and alliance strategies within competition.
Trump administration officials have described the Chinese Communist threat as an all-out assault on U.S. economic prosperity, national security and the concept of freedom, as well as global democracies. In the course of this confrontation, the United States has abandoned the common notion, held for decades in its policy of engagement with Beijing, that economic liberalization will lead to a more democratic China. That notion is now widely believed to be false.
According to J. Michael Waller, senior analyst for strategic policy at the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, former President Trump’s greatest achievement was that he “revolutionized the U.S. strategy for dealing with communist China “.
“Trump has exposed the big lie of Communist propaganda, which is that the Communist Party claims to be for peace, for common development and mutual cooperation around the world.” He said, “The Chinese Communist Party has been telling these kinds of lies for years, both under Republican and Democratic presidential administrations.”
Recent Comments