Tag: Biden, Joseph R Jr

Meng’s Release Could Reduce Friction Between U.S. and China

Chin@Strategy

The deal to release Meng Wanzhou could reduce a nettlesome conflict in U.S.-China relations. President Donald J. Trump took an aggressively adversarial stance toward China, castigating Beijing for what he called unfair trade policies, blaming it for the coronavirus pandemic, blocking Chinese technology companies from the lucrative American market and imposing heavy tariffs on Chinese exports. The Trump administration also accused Huawei of stealing technology from its Western rivals. Since coming to office, President Biden has also taken a tough position on China. He has sought to establish the United…

In Biden’s Foreign Policy, Friends and Foes Claim Echoes of Trump

Chin@Strategy

They include Mr. Biden’s continuation of Trump-era trade tariffs, which Democrats roundly denounced before Mr. Biden took office but his officials quickly came to see as a source of leverage in their dealings with China. Similarly, Iranian officials complain bitterly that Mr. Biden has not lifted any of the numerous economic sanctions that Mr. Trump imposed after he withdrew from the nuclear deal. Early in Mr. Biden’s presidency, some European allies urged the administration to lift some of those restrictions as a way to jump-start nuclear talks, but Biden officials…

At U.N., Biden Calls for Diplomacy, not Conflict, but Some Are Skeptical

Chin@Strategy

President Biden, fighting mounting doubts among America’s allies about his commitment to working with them, used his debut address to the United Nations on Tuesday to call for “relentless diplomacy” on climate change, the pandemic and efforts to blunt the expanding influence of autocratic nations like China and Russia. In a 30-minute address in the hall of the General Assembly, Mr. Biden called for a new era of global action, making the case that a summer of wildfires, excessive heat and the resurgence of the coronavirus required a new era…

AUKUS Still Leaves Australia at Risk Against China

Chin@Strategy

The United States did not directly mention China in announcing its historic new security partnership with Australia and Britain last week, but it didn’t have to. The defense deal is a clear escalation and indication that Washington views Beijing as an adversary. It also has thrust Australia into a central role in America’s rivalry with China. After hinting at a more self-reliant defense posture for the past several years, Australia’s government is now instead betting big on the future of its alliance with the United States with the new pact.…

The Secret Talks Behind the U.S. Deal That France Called a ‘Betrayal’

Chin@Strategy

According to French officials, Mr. Blinken also stayed silent on June 25 when his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, welcomed him back to Paris — where Mr. Blinken spent his high school years — and extolled the importance of the French submarine deal. And as recently as Aug. 30, when the French and Australian defense and foreign ministers held their annual “consultation,” they issued a joint communiqué that said the two countries were committed to deepening cooperation in the defense industry and “underlined the importance of the Future Submarine program.”…

The Sharp U.S. Pivot to Asia Is Throwing Europe Off Balance

Chin@Strategy

There are deeper questions about America’s future reliability as a security partner, especially if the conflict with China turns kinetic, which is part of Mr. Macron’s argument, Mr. Lesser acknowledged. “For all the U.S. commitment to Europe, if things go wrong in the Indo-Pacific, that would change the force structure in Europe pretty fast.” In Poland, a strong American ally in the European Union and NATO, the reaction to the new alliance was more positive, focusing not on a pivot away from Europe “but on the U.S., with the British…

Biden Set to Host World Leaders for Climate Forum

Chin@Strategy

President Biden is set to host a climate change summit Friday morning that is expected to draw pledges from the United States, Europe and a number of countries to slash their use of methane, a potent planet-warming greenhouse gas, according to environmental groups. The White House meeting, which is called the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, will be held virtually starting at 8:30 a.m. It comes less than two months before a pivotal United Nations conference in Glasgow where nearly 200 nations are expected to announce more ambitious…

In Submarine Deal With Australia, U.S. Counters China but Enrages France

Chin@Strategy

PARIS — President Biden’s announcement of a deal to help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines has strained the Western alliance, infuriating France and foreshadowing how the conflicting American and European responses to confrontation with China may redraw the global strategic map. In announcing the deal on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said it was meant to reinforce alliances and update them as strategic priorities shift. But in drawing a Pacific ally closer to meet the China challenge, he appears to have alienated an important European one and aggravated already tense relations with Beijing.…

Why Australia Bet the House on Lasting American Power in Asia

Chin@Strategy

Speaking Thursday, Mr. Morrison said the reinforced security alliance with the United States and Britain, which will include collaborations on artificial intelligence and other emerging technology, reflected the needs of a more dangerous dynamic in the Asia-Pacific region. “The relatively benign environment we’ve enjoyed for many decades in our region is behind us,” he said, without directly mentioning China. “We have entered a new era with new challenges for Australia and our partners.” Some security analysts argued that China’s recent retaliation against Australia over its harder line — slashing imports…

Biden Expresses Confidence in Milley Amid Questions About His Calls to China

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The senior-most U.S. military officer did not bypass his civilian leaders when he called his Chinese counterpart in October and January, his office said on Wednesday after the release of excerpts from a new book that alleges that the conversations centered on concerns about President Donald J. Trump. “Peril,” by the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, says that Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretly called China twice to offer reassurances that Mr. Trump had no plans to start…