UNITED STATES: US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has described America’s relationship with China as the “biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century”. He added that the Asian powerhouse is the only country with the diplomatic, military, economic and technological capability to challenge the open international system.
In his foreign policy address, US President Biden had described the Asian country as the most “serious competitor” to the US. He has also vowed to confront China on many fronts including human rights, intellectual property, and economic policy.
While unveiling the eight key foreign policy focus areas of the Biden Administration, Blinken said, “We will manage the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century: our relationship with China. Several countries present us with serious challenges including, Russia, Iran, North Korea and there are serious crises we have to deal with, including in Yemen, Ethiopia, and Burma. But the challenges posed by China are different.”
“China is the only country with the economic, diplomatic military, and technological power to seriously challenge the stable and open international system. All the rules, values, and relationships make the world work the way we want it to because it ultimately serves the interests and reflects the values of the American people. Our relationship with China will be competitive when it should be. Collaborative when it can be adversarial when it must be,” Blinken added.
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Blinken believes that winning the global economy means making the right investments at home and pushing back against unfair trading practices by China.
“Dealing with climate change means investing in resilience and green energy here at home and leading a global effort to reduce carbon pollution. More than at any other time in my career, maybe in my lifetime, distinctions between domestic and foreign policy have simply fallen away. Our domestic renewal and our strength in the world are completely entwined, and how we work will reflect that reality. And finally, as the president has promised diplomacy, not military action, will always come first,” Blinken said.
