Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken speaks on foreign policy after being introduced by President-elect Joe Biden at the Queen’s Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., Nov. 24, 2020.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says again in a CNN interview Monday (Feb. 8) that former President Donald Trump‘s (Trump) tough policy on China was the right thing to do.
Asked what practices Biden might take on China, such as: would he take a tougher stance on unfair trade practices or cyber theft of U.S. technology, after President Joe Biden said he would not handle China the way Trump has?
Blinken replied, “To be fair, President Trump, he’s right to take a tougher stance on China [the Chinese Communist Party]. That’s the right thing to do. My judgment is that his approach is wrong across the board, but the basic principles are correct.”
Blinken’s statement was similar to his appearance at the Senate nomination hearings.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Blinken said, “We have to engage China (the Chinese Communist Party) from a position of strength. Whether it’s an adversarial relationship, a competitive relationship, or a cooperative relationship, it’s for our common good, and we have to deal with it from a position of strength.”
Paraphrasing the Biden Administration‘s foreign policy toward China, Blinken said, “It means having strong alliances – which are the source of our strength – not alliances that discredit us. It means (us) showing up in the world (affairs) again and getting involved. Because if we don’t do that, when we withdraw, China (the CCP) will fill the space. It means standing up for our values when we see the human rights of the Uighurs in Xinjiang or the democracy in Hong Kong being violated, not abandoning them. It means ensuring that we posture militarily to deter aggression, and it means investing in our own people so that they can compete effectively.”
“If we do all of those things, and all of those things are within our control, we can engage China (the Chinese Communist Party) from a position of strength.” Blinken said.
Since the Biden administration has only recently taken office, its “tolerance” policy toward China is currently focused more on rhetoric and not much progress on action.
In general, Blinken’s China Policy remains similar to that of former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and Biden’s policy is similar to that of Trump.
In response to human rights and democracy violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the Trump Administration has previously sanctioned a number of Chinese and Hong Kong officials, restricted access to U.S. visas and frozen financial transactions.
The Biden administration has emphasized the importance of human rights issues in its foreign policy. Asked by CNN how much of Biden’s overall approach to China would be devoted to human rights abuses?
Blinken said President Biden has made it very clear that he wants to, and will, put human rights and democracy back at the center of U.S. foreign policy.
“Whether it’s China (the Chinese Communist Party) or any other country where we have deep and serious concerns, that will be the most important thing.” Blinken said.
Asked to elaborate on what specific actions will be taken in the next period, Blinken replied, “We have these deep concerns and we will act, but also with other countries, allies and partners; they share our concerns, particularly about human rights abuses of the Uighurs, about democracy abuses in Hong Kong. During the transfer of power from Britain to China (the Chinese Communist Party), the Chinese side made promises about Hong Kong and the rights of Hong Kong people. But those promises have not been fulfilled.”
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