Tag: United States International Relations

Pro-China YouTube Network Used A.I. to Malign U.S., Report Finds

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In a faintly stilted tone and with slightly awkward grammar, the American-accented voice on YouTube last month ridiculed Washington’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, claiming that the United States was unable to “play its role as a mediator like China” and “now finds itself in a position of significant isolation.” The 10-minute post was one of more than 4,500 videos in an unusually large network of YouTube channels spreading pro-China and anti-U.S. narratives, according to a report this week from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a security-focused…

Lawmakers Call for Raising Tariffs and Severing Economic Ties With China

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Bipartisan lawmakers on Tuesday called for severing more of America’s economic and financial ties with China, including revoking the low tariff rates that the United States granted Beijing after it joined the World Trade Organization more than two decades ago. The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a wide-ranging set of recommendations for resetting America’s economic relationship with China. The report, which was signed by both House Democrats and Republicans, argued that China had carried out a “multidecade campaign of economic aggression” that had undercut American firms,…

Three Months After Biden, It’s Xi’s Turn to Court Vietnam

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China’s leader, Xi Jinping, arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a relatively rare trip abroad, seeking to elevate ties with an important neighbor just three months after President Biden visited Hanoi on a similar mission. Few nations now feature more centrally in the great-power competition between the United States and China, placing Vietnam, which has a long history of fierce independence, in a high-risk, high-reward position. Keeping both giants happy could mean a transformative economic boost; angering one or the other could bring heavy costs. “This is a very delicate…

The Clock is Ticking on Improving China-U.S. Relations, Experts Say

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“There isn’t a clear message from the U. S., or the rest of us saying, ‘Here is an economic proposition. Here is why we think that working with us is going to be good for you in the long term. And here is what flows from that,’” she said. “Like who is a friend, right? Why are they a friend? What are the benefits of being a friend? What are the risks of not being a friend? “ The discussion also veered into larger geopolitical issues — mainly Taiwan and…

U.S. Moves to Crack Down on Money Behind Fentanyl Trade

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The Biden administration said on Monday that it was creating a “counter-fentanyl strike force” within the Treasury Department to combat trafficking of the drug into the United States by more aggressively scrutinizing the finances of suspected narcotics dealers. The Treasury’s office of terrorism and financial intelligence and the criminal investigation unit of the Internal Revenue Service will lead the new team. It will attempt to find and disrupt money laundering associated with fentanyl trafficking and to more effectively crack down on sanctions violations. Officials from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network…

U.S. Limits China’s Ability to Benefit From Electric Vehicle Subsidies

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The Biden administration proposed new rules on Friday aimed at shifting more production of electric vehicle batteries and the materials that power them to the United States, in an attempt to build up a strategic industry now dominated by China. The rules are meant to limit the role that firms in China can play in supplying materials for electric vehicles that qualify for federal tax credits. They will also discourage companies that seek federal funding to build battery factories in the United States from sourcing materials from China or Russia.…

Kissinger: A Player on the World Stage Until the Very End

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When China’s leaders wanted to send a message to the Biden administration last summer, they did what came naturally. They called Henry A. Kissinger. Mr. Kissinger was 100 years old by then and had left the government 46 years earlier. But for as long as anyone could remember, the Chinese had venerated him as the secretary of state who forged the landmark diplomatic opening to Beijing. They had used him as a channel to Washington ever since. Knowing him as they did, the Chinese played to his sense of self…

Kissinger Kept Busy as a Diplomat Long After Leaving State Department

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When Henry Kissinger turned 100 this year, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken toasted him at one birthday celebration in New York, and the C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, did so at another in Washington. There was a reason: Kissinger managed to retain his role as adviser to Washington’s key policymakers a half century after he left office, oftentimes because what he did then was so relevant to the crises of today. Mr. Kissinger spoke with Mr. Blinken regularly, including as recently as last month, Mr. Blinken said. He had…

Can U.S.-China Student Exchanges Survive Geopolitics?

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On a cool Saturday morning, in a hotel basement in Beijing, throngs of young Chinese gathered to do what millions had done before them: dream of an American education. At a college fair organized by the United States Embassy, the students and their parents hovered over rows of booths advertising American universities. As a mascot of a bald eagle worked the crowd, they posed eagerly for photos. But beneath the festive atmosphere thrummed a note of anxiety. Did America still want Chinese students? And were Chinese students sure they wanted…

Warnings Emerge Over Emirati A.I. Firm G42’s Ties to China

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When the secretive national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, visited the White House in June, his American counterpart, Jake Sullivan, raised a delicate issue: G42, an artificial intelligence firm controlled by the sheikh that American officials believe is hiding the extent of its work with China. In public, the company has announced its staggering growth with a steady cadence of news releases. They have included agreements with European pharmaceutical giants like AstraZeneca and a $100 million deal with a Silicon Valley firm to build…