“Biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century”: Chancellor of Biden vows to face China from a position of strength

WASHINGTON – US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken on Wednesday said his country was ready to take on China if necessary, calling the relationship with the Asian power “the biggest geopolitical test” of the century.

In a speech deemed the most relevant since his inauguration, Blinken promised that the administration of President Joe Biden put diplomacy before military action and seek international cooperation on global challenges, such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We will be dealing with the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century: our relationship with China”Blinken told the State Department. In this direction, underlined the commitment to defend the rights of Hong Kong and the Uyghur ethnic group and said that otherwise “China will act with even greater impunity.”

“China is the only country with the economic, diplomatic, military and technological strength necessary to seriously challenge the stable and open international system.: all the rules, values ​​and relationships that make the world work the way we want it to, ”he said.

“Our relationship with China will be competitive when it needs to be, collaborative when it can be and contradictory when it needs to be. And we will engage with China from a strong position “, he assured.

The Secretary of State’s statements coincide with a hardening of Washington’s stance towards China under the presidency of Republican Donald Trump, who has accused Beijing of the Covid-19 pandemic and entered a trade battle with the Asian giant.

The Biden administration said it did not disagree with the previous government over China, but believed it could be more effective in its confrontation with Beijing, for example by working with Washington’s allies.

Blinken said Biden would be moderate in military action despite an order for an airstrike last week in Syria against Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries. He did not mention a new attack Wednesday on a base in Iraq, in which an American entrepreneur died of a heart attack.

“In future cases, when we need to take military action, we will only do so when the objectives and mission are clear and achievable, consistent with our values ​​and laws, and with the informed consent of the American people,” Blinken said. . “And we will do it with diplomacy,” he added.

The head of American diplomacy warned of an “erosion of democracy” in the world, including in the United States, and marked the siege of the Capitol on January 6 by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

If the United States does not promote democracy, “we are playing the game of adversaries and competitors like Russia and China, who use every opportunity to question the strength of our democracy,” Blinken said.

But he assured Biden had no interest in bringing democracy to the world “through costly military interventions or trying to overthrow authoritarian regimes by force,” since the country has tried in the past unsuccessfully, according to its own. terms, probably alluding to the war in Iraq and the 2011 intervention in Libya.

AFP and ANSA agency

THE NATION

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