Tag: Biden, Joseph R Jr

Biden Aims to Inject New Energy Into US Relations With African Nations

Chin@Strategy

In the course of his interactions with African leaders, the president unveiled a series of initiatives, including an agreement meant to encourage the formation of a continentwide free-trade zone that has stalled over the last few years. He vowed to help African countries do more to transition to clean energy and plug into the digital economy, a contrast to China, which has focused much of its investment in Africa on building roads, bridges, airports and other physical infrastructure. Mr. Biden said in his keynote address that the goal was not…

The U.S. wants to counter China’s moves in Africa. But American officials try not to mention that.

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — There is one word that American officials are trying to avoid saying as they meet with African counterparts during the U.S.-Africa leaders summit in Washington this week: China. President Biden and his aides do not want the nearly 50 African leaders attending the event to perceive that official U.S. interests on the continent are mainly driven by a desire to counter China, which has built enormous trade ties with African nations and is trying to grow its military and security presence in the region. Yet, in discussions on…

US Wants to Counter China’s Moves in Africa, But Officials Try Not to Mention That

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — There is one word that American officials are trying to avoid saying as they meet with African counterparts during the U.S.-Africa leaders summit in Washington this week: China. President Biden and his aides do not want the nearly 50 African leaders attending the event to perceive that official U.S. interests on the continent are mainly driven by a desire to counter China, which has built enormous trade ties with African nations and is trying to grow its military and security presence in the region. Yet, in discussions on…

Chasing the U.S., China’s Leader Emerges From Diplomatic Isolation

Chin@Strategy

He met with Saudi Arabia’s king and the leaders of Egypt, Tunisia, Kuwait and Sudan. He pledged to expand ports along the Red Sea, invest in petrochemicals and usher in a wave of Chinese tourism. After years of alienating other countries with his foreign ministry’s abrasive style of diplomacy and then retreating into semi-isolation for most of the pandemic, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is returning to the global stage to repair China’s position and catch up to the United States, which Beijing sees as having emerged stronger from the Covid…

China and Saudi Arabia Sign Strategic Partnership as Xi Visits Kingdom

Chin@Strategy

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia and China signed a strategic partnership agreement on Thursday during a visit by the Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the kingdom, underlining the growing ties between Beijing and a longstanding American ally. Mr. Xi held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the prime minister and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, on Thursday in the first of a series of summits planned for the Chinese president’s three-day visit. After his bilateral meetings with Saudi officials, Mr. Xi is expected to attend twin summits…

U.S. Recognition of Tiny Pacific Country Reshapes Its New Zealand Ties

Chin@Strategy

The Cook Islands had given up on its dream of United Nations membership and, with it, greater autonomy and influence on the world stage. New Zealand, the country that once governed the small Pacific nation and still exercises power there, had rejected its repeated entreaties. But now that President Biden has provided a stamp of approval — with formal recognition for the Cook Islands at a summit of Pacific nations in September — the country of 18,000 people has shifted course, moving toward joining international bodies with renewed vigor. What…

John Kerry Plans to Meet With Biden to Discuss His Future as Climate Envoy

Chin@Strategy

John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, was evasive when discussing his future on Wednesday, saying he had “no plans” to step down, but he would not say if he hoped to continue to represent the country in future global climate talks. Speaking from his Massachusetts home in his first interview since the United Nations climate summit last month in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Mr. Kerry said he intended to talk with Mr. Biden next week “about the road ahead.” The midpoint in any administration is frequently a time of churn.…

NATO Nations Grow More Receptive to U.S. Pleas to Confront China

Chin@Strategy

The discussion on China marked a shift toward a harder line on the challenges and threats it represents, especially among foreign ministers from previously more ambivalent countries, like Italy, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, some of whom called for less talk and more action to build a China strategy. Areas of concern included investment screening to protect key industries, infrastructure, cyber, technology and intellectual property, especially as countries are feeling the reach of China domestically and fear the West may be falling behind in important areas like artificial intelligence. The focus…

White House Weighs How Forcefully to Support Protesters in China

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The surprise eruption of protests in China over Covid lockdowns presents President Biden with his latest challenge in balancing an embrace of democracy with the need to prevent a fast-decaying relationship with an autocratic nation from rupturing. The White House reacted cautiously on Monday to the scenes of Chinese citizens denouncing the country’s zero-Covid policies and the revival of widespread censorship. In a statement, repeated almost verbatim in the White House press room by John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, the administration said only:…

Gina Raimondo, a Rising Star in the Biden Administration, Faces a $100 Billion Test

Chin@Strategy

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Gina Raimondo, the commerce secretary, was meeting with students at Purdue University in September when she spotted a familiar face. Ms. Raimondo beamed as she greeted the chief executive of SkyWater Technology, a chip company that had announced plans to build a $1.8 billion manufacturing facility next to the Purdue campus. “We’re super excited about the Indiana announcement,” she said. “Call me if you need anything.” These days, Ms. Raimondo, a former Rhode Island governor, is the most important phone call in Washington that many chief…