{"id":48780,"date":"2022-05-26T16:37:57","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T23:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=48780"},"modified":"2022-05-27T09:38:58","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T16:38:58","slug":"the-administrations-approach-to-the-peoples-republic-of-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=48780","title":{"rendered":"The Administration\u2019s Approach to the People\u2019s Republic of China"},"content":{"rendered":"
05\/26\/2022 01:44 PM EDT<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State<\/p>\n

Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

The George Washington University<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 Good morning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a real pleasure to be here at The George Washington University.\u00a0 This is an institution that draws outstanding students and scholars from around the world and where the most urgent challenges that we face as a country and a planet are studied and debated.\u00a0 So thank you for having us here today.<\/p>\n

And I especially want to thank our friends at the Asia Society, dedicated to forging closer ties with the countries and people of Asia to try to enhance peace, prosperity, freedom, equality, sustainability.\u00a0 Thank you for hosting us today, but thank you for your leadership every day. Kevin Rudd, Wendy Cutler, Danny Russel \u2013 all colleagues, all thought leaders, but also doers, and it\u2019s always wonderful to be with you.<\/p>\n

And I have to say I am really grateful, Senator Romney, for your presence here today \u2013 a man, a leader, that I greatly admire, a person of tremendous principle, who has been leading on the subject that we\u2019re going to talk about today.\u00a0 Senator, thank you for your presence.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m also delighted to see so many members of the diplomatic corps because diplomacy is the indispensable tool for shaping our shared future.<\/p>\n

In the past two years we\u2019ve come together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future global health emergencies, rebuild from economic shocks, from supply-chain disruptions to debt crises, and take on climate change, and reimagine an energy future that\u2019s cleaner, more secure, and more affordable.<\/p>\n

The common denominator across these efforts is the simple fact that none of us can meet these challenges alone.\u00a0 We have to face them together.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019ve put diplomacy back at the center of American foreign policy, to help us realize the future that Americans and people around the world seek \u2013 one where technology is used to lift people up, not suppress them; where trade and commerce support workers, raise incomes, create opportunity; where universal human rights are respected; countries are secure from coercion and aggression, and people, ideas, goods, and capital move freely; and where nations can both forge their own paths and work together effectively in common cause.<\/p>\n

To build that future, we must defend and reform the rules-based international order \u2013 the system of laws, agreements, principles, and institutions that the world came together to build after two world wars to manage relations between states, to prevent conflict, to uphold the rights of all people.<\/p>\n

Its founding documents include the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrined concepts like self-determination, sovereignty, the peaceful settlement of disputes.\u00a0 These are not Western constructs.\u00a0 They are reflections of the world\u2019s shared aspirations.<\/p>\n

In the decades since, despite daunting challenges and despite the gap between our ideals and some of the results we\u2019ve achieved, the countries of the world have avoided another world war and armed conflict between nuclear powers.\u00a0 We\u2019ve built a global economy that lifted billions of people out of poverty.\u00a0 We\u2019ve advanced human rights as never before.<\/p>\n

Now, as we look to the future, we want not just to sustain the international order that made so much of that progress possible, but to modernize it, to make sure that it represents the interests, the values, the hopes of all nations, big and small, from every region; and furthermore, that it can meet the challenges that we face now and will face in the future, many of which are beyond what the world could have imagined seven decades ago.<\/p>\n

But that outcome is not guaranteed because the foundations of the international order are under serious and sustained challenge.<\/p>\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin poses a clear and present threat.\u00a0 In attacking Ukraine three months ago, he also attacked the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, enshrined in the UN Charter, to protect all countries from being conquered or coerced.\u00a0 That\u2019s why so many countries have united to oppose this aggression because they see it as a direct assault on the foundation of their own peace and security.<\/p>\n

Ukraine is fighting valiantly to defend its people and its independence with unprecedented assistance from the United States and countries around the world.\u00a0 And while the war is not over, President Putin has failed to achieve a single one of his strategic aims.\u00a0 Instead of erasing Ukraine\u2019s independence, he strengthened it.\u00a0 Instead of dividing NATO, he\u2019s united it.\u00a0 Instead of asserting Russia\u2019s strength, he\u2019s undermined it.\u00a0 And instead of weakening the international order, he has brought countries together to defend it.<\/p>\n

Even as President Putin\u2019s war continues, we will remain focused on the most serious long-term challenge to the international order \u2013 and that\u2019s posed by the People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/p>\n

China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it.\u00a0 Beijing\u2019s vision would move us away from the universal values that have sustained so much of the world\u2019s progress over the past 75 years.<\/p>\n

China is also integral to the global economy and to our ability to solve challenges from climate to COVID.\u00a0 Put simply, the United States and China have to deal with each other for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why this is one of the most complex and consequential relationships of any that we have in the world today.<\/p>\n

Over the last year, the Biden administration has developed and implemented a comprehensive strategy to harness our national strengths and our unmatched network of allies and partners to realize the future that we seek.<\/p>\n

We are not looking for conflict or a new Cold War.\u00a0 To the contrary, we\u2019re determined to avoid both.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t seek to block China from its role as a major power, nor to stop China \u2013 or any other country, for that matter \u2013 from growing their economy or advancing the interests of their people.<\/p>\n

But we will defend and strengthen the international law, agreements, principles, and institutions that maintain peace and security, protect the rights of individuals and sovereign nations, and make it possible for all countries \u2013 including the United States and China \u2013 to coexist and cooperate.<\/p>\n

Now, the China of today is very different from the China of 50 years ago, when President Nixon broke decades of strained relations to become the first U.S. president to visit the country.<\/p>\n

Then, China was isolated and struggling with widespread poverty and hunger.<\/p>\n

Now, China is a global power with extraordinary reach, influence, and ambition.\u00a0 It\u2019s the second largest economy, with world-class cities and public transportation networks.\u00a0 It\u2019s home to some of the world\u2019s largest tech companies and it seeks to dominate the technologies and industries of the future.\u00a0 It\u2019s rapidly modernized its military and intends to become a top tier fighting force with global reach.\u00a0 And it has announced its ambition to create a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and to become the world\u2019s leading power.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s transformation is due to the talent, the ingenuity, the hard work of the Chinese people.\u00a0 It was also made possible by the stability and opportunity that the international order provides.\u00a0 Arguably, no country on Earth has benefited more from that than China.<\/p>\n

But rather than using its power to reinforce and revitalize the laws, the agreements, the principles, the institutions that enabled its success so that other countries can benefit from them, too, Beijing is undermining them.\u00a0 Under President Xi, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad.<\/p>\n

We see that in how Beijing has perfected mass surveillance within China and exported that technology to more than 80 countries; how its advancing unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, undermining peace and security, freedom of navigation, and commerce; how it\u2019s circumventing or breaking trade rules, harming workers and companies in the United States but also around the world; and how it purports to champion sovereignty and territorial integrity while standing with governments that brazenly violate them.<\/p>\n

Even while Russia was clearly mobilizing to invade Ukraine, President Xi and President Putin declared that the friendship between their countries was \u2013 and I quote \u2013 \u201cwithout limits.\u201d\u00a0 Just this week, as President Biden was visiting Japan, China and Russia conducted a strategic bomber patrol together in the region.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s defense of President Putin\u2019s war to erase Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and secure a sphere of influence in Europe should raise alarm bells for all of us who call the Indo-Pacific region home.<\/p>\n

For these reasons and more, this is a charged moment for the world.\u00a0 And at times like these, diplomacy is vital.\u00a0 It\u2019s how we make clear our profound concerns, better understand each other\u2019s perspective, and have no doubt about each other\u2019s intentions.\u00a0 We stand ready to increase our direct communication with Beijing across a full range of issues.\u00a0 And we hope that that can happen.<\/p>\n

But we cannot rely on Beijing to change its trajectory.\u00a0 So we will shape the strategic environment around Beijing to advance our vision for an open, inclusive international system.<\/p>\n

President Biden believes this decade will be decisive.\u00a0 The actions that we take at home and with countries worldwide will determine whether our shared vision of the future will be realized.<\/p>\n

To succeed in this decisive decade, the Biden administration\u2019s strategy can be summed up in three words \u2013 \u201cinvest, align, compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

We will invest in the foundations of our strength here at home \u2013 our competitiveness, our innovation, our democracy.<\/p>\n

We will align our efforts with our network of allies and partners, acting with common purpose and in common cause.<\/p>\n

And harnessing these two key assets, we\u2019ll compete with China to defend our interests and build our vision for the future.<\/p>\n

We take on this challenge with confidence.\u00a0 Our country is endowed with many strengths.\u00a0 We have peaceful neighbors, a diverse and growing population, abundant resources, the world\u2019s reserve currency, the most powerful military on Earth, and a thriving culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that, for example, produced multiple effective vaccines now protecting people worldwide from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

And our open society, at its best, attracts flows of talent and investment and has a time-tested capacity for reinvention, rooted in our democracy, empowering us to meet whatever challenges we face.<\/p>\n

First, on investing in our strength.<\/p>\n

After the Second World War, as we and our partners were building the rules-based order, our federal government was also making strategic investments in scientific research, education, infrastructure, our workforce, creating millions of middle-class jobs and decades of prosperity and technology leadership.\u00a0 But we took those foundations for granted.\u00a0 And so it\u2019s time to get back to basics.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration is making far-reaching investments in our core sources of national strength \u2013 starting with a modern industrial strategy to sustain and expand our economic and technological influence, make our economy and supply chains more resilient, sharpen our competitive edge.<\/p>\n

Last year, President Biden signed into law the largest infrastructure investment in our history: to modernize our highways, our ports, airports, rail, and bridges; to move goods to market faster, to boost our productivity; to expand high-speed internet to every corner of the country; to draw more businesses and more jobs to more parts of America.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re making strategic investments in education and worker training, so that American workers \u2013 the best in the world \u2013 can design, build, and operate the technologies of the future.<\/p>\n

Because our industrial strategy centers on technology, we want to invest in research, development, advanced manufacturing.\u00a0 Sixty years ago, our government spent more than twice as much on research as a percentage of our economy as we do now \u2013 investments that, in turn, catalyzed private-sector innovation.\u00a0 It\u2019s how we won the space race, invented the semiconductor, built the internet.\u00a0 We used to rank first in the world in R&D as a proportion of our GDP \u2013 now we\u2019re ninth.\u00a0 Meanwhile, China has risen from eighth place to second.<\/p>\n

With bipartisan congressional support, we\u2019ll reverse these trends and make historic investments in research and innovation, including in fields like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing.\u00a0 These are areas that Beijing is determined to lead \u2013 but given America\u2019s advantages, the competition is ours to lose, not only in terms of developing new technologies but also in shaping how they\u2019re used around the world, so that they\u2019re rooted in democratic values, not authoritarian ones.<\/p>\n

The leadership \u2013 Senator Romney and others \u2013 the House and Senate have passed bills to support this agenda, including billions to produce semiconductors here and to strengthen other critical supply chains.\u00a0 Now we need Congress to send the legislation to the President for his signature.<\/p>\n

We can get this done, and it can\u2019t wait \u2013 supply chains are moving now, and if we don\u2019t draw them here, they\u2019ll be established somewhere else.\u00a0 As President Biden has said, the Chinese Communist Party is lobbying against this legislation \u2013 because there\u2019s no better way to enhance our global standing and influence than to deliver on our domestic renewal.\u00a0 These investments will not only make America stronger; they\u2019ll make us a stronger partner and ally as well.<\/p>\n

One of the most powerful, even magical things about the United States is that we have long been a destination for talented, driven people from every part of the planet.\u00a0 That includes millions of students from China, who have enriched our communities and forged lifelong bonds with Americans.\u00a0 Last year, despite the pandemic, we issued more than 100,000 visas to Chinese students in just four months \u2013 our highest rate ever.\u00a0 We\u2019re thrilled that they\u2019ve chosen to study in the United States \u2013 we\u2019re lucky to have them.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re lucky when the best global talent not only studies here but stays here \u2013 as more than 80 percent of Chinese students who pursue science and technology PhDs in the United States have done in recent years.\u00a0 They help drive innovation here at home, and that benefits all of us.\u00a0 We can stay vigilant about our national security without closing our doors.<\/p>\n

We also know from our history that when we\u2019re managing a challenging relationship with another government, people from that country or with that heritage can be made to feel that they don\u2019t belong here \u2013 or that they\u2019re our adversaries.\u00a0 Nothing could be further from the truth.\u00a0 Chinese Americans made invaluable contributions to our country; they\u2019ve done so for generations.\u00a0 Mistreating someone of Chinese descent goes against everything we stand for as a country \u2013 whether a Chinese national visiting or living here, or a Chinese American, or any other Asian American whose claim to this country is equal to anyone else\u2019s.\u00a0 Racism and hate have no place in a nation built by generations of immigrants to fulfill the promise of opportunity for all.<\/p>\n

We have profound differences with the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Government.\u00a0 But those differences are between governments and systems \u2013 not between our people.\u00a0 The American people have great respect for the Chinese people.\u00a0 We respect their achievements, their history, their culture.\u00a0 We deeply value the ties of family and friendship that connect us.\u00a0 And we sincerely wish for our governments to work together on issues that matter to their lives and to the lives of Americans, and for that matter the lives of people around the world.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another core source of national strength that we\u2019ll be relying on in this decisive decade: our democracy.<\/p>\n

A hundred years ago, if asked what constitutes the wealth of a nation, we might list the expanse of our land, the size of our population, the strength of our military, the abundance of our natural resources.\u00a0 And thankfully, we\u2019re still wealthy in all of those attributes.\u00a0 But more than ever, in this 21st century, the true wealth of a nation is found in our people \u2013 our human resources \u2013 and our ability to unleash their full potential.<\/p>\n

We do that with our democratic system.\u00a0 We debate, we argue, we disagree, we challenge each other, including our elected leaders.\u00a0 We deal with our deficiencies openly; we don\u2019t pretend they don\u2019t exist or sweep them under the rug.\u00a0 And though progress can feel painfully slow, can be difficult and ugly, by and large we consistently work toward a society where people from all backgrounds can flourish, guided by national values that unite, motivate, and uplift us.<\/p>\n

We are not perfect.\u00a0 But at our best, we always strive to be \u2013 in the words of our Constitution \u2013 a more perfect union.\u00a0 Our democracy is designed to make that happen.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the American people and the American model offer, and it\u2019s one of the most powerful assets in this contest.<\/p>\n

Now, Beijing believes that its model is the better one; that a party-led centralized system is more efficient, less messy, ultimately superior to democracy.\u00a0 We do not seek to transform China\u2019s political system.\u00a0 Our task is to prove once again that democracy can meet urgent challenges, create opportunity, advance human dignity; that the future belongs to those who believe in freedom and that all countries will be free to chart their own paths without coercion.<\/p>\n

The second piece of our strategy is aligning with our allies and partners to advance a shared vision for the future.<\/p>\n

From day one, the Biden administration has worked to re-energize America\u2019s unmatched network of alliances and partnerships and to re-engage in international institutions.\u00a0 We\u2019re encouraging partners to work with each other, and through regional and global organizations.\u00a0 And we\u2019re standing up new coalitions to deliver for our people and meet the tests of the century ahead.<\/p>\n

Nowhere is this more true than in the Indo-Pacific region, where our relationships, including our treaty alliances, are among our strongest in the world.<\/p>\n

The United States shares the vision that countries and people across the region hold:\u00a0 one of a free and open Indo-Pacific where rules are developed transparently and applied fairly; where countries are free to make their own sovereign decisions; where goods, ideas, and people flow freely across land, sky, cyberspace, the open seas, and governance is responsive to the people.<\/p>\n

President Biden reinforced these priorities this week with his trip to the region, where he reaffirmed our vital security alliances with South Korea and Japan, and deepened our economic and technology cooperation with both countries.<\/p>\n

He launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, a first-of-its-kind initiative for the region.\u00a0 It will, in the President\u2019s words, \u201chelp all our countries\u2019 economies grow faster and fairer.\u201d\u00a0 IPEF, as we call it, renews American economic leadership but adapts it for the 21st century by addressing cutting-edge issues like the digital economy, supply chains, clean energy, infrastructure, and corruption.\u00a0 A dozen countries, including India, have already joined.\u00a0 Together, IPEF members make up more than a third of the global economy.<\/p>\n

The President also took part in the leaders\u2019 summit of the Quad countries \u2013 Australia, Japan, India, the United States.\u00a0 The Quad never met at the leader level before President Biden took office.\u00a0 Since he convened the first leaders\u2019 meeting last year, the Quad has held four summits.\u00a0 It\u2019s become a leading regional team.\u00a0 This week, it launched a new Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, so our partners across the region can better monitor the waters near their shores to address illegal fishing and protect their maritime rights and their sovereignty.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re reinvigorating our partnership with ASEAN.\u00a0 Earlier this month, we hosted the U.S.-ASEAN Summit to take on urgent issues like public health and the climate crisis together.\u00a0 This week, seven ASEAN countries became founding members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.\u00a0 And we\u2019re building bridges among our Indo-Pacific and European partners, including by inviting Asian allies to the NATO summit in Madrid next month.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re enhancing peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific; for example, with the new security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, known as AUKUS.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re helping countries in the region and around the world defeat COVID-19.\u00a0 To date, the United States has provided nearly $20 billion to the global pandemic response.\u00a0 That includes more than 540 million doses of safe and effective vaccines donated \u2013 not sold \u2013 with no political strings attached, on our way to 1.2 billion doses worldwide.\u00a0 And we\u2019re coordinating with a group of 19 countries in a global action plan to get shots into arms.<\/p>\n

As a result of all of this diplomacy, we are more aligned with partners across the Indo-Pacific, and we\u2019re working in a more coordinated way toward our shared goals.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also deepened our alignment across the Atlantic.\u00a0 We launched the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council last year, marshaling the combined weight of nearly 50 percent of the world\u2019s GDP.\u00a0 Last week, I joined Secretary Raimondo, Ambassador Tai, and our European Commission counterparts for our second meeting to work together on new technology standards, coordinate on investment screening and export controls, strengthen supply chains, boost green tech, and improve food security and digital infrastructure in developing countries.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we and our European partners set aside 17 years of litigation about aircraft; now, instead of arguing with each other, we\u2019re working to secure a level playing field for our companies and workers in that sector.<\/p>\n

Similarly, we worked with the European Union and others to resolve a dispute on steel and aluminum imports, and now we\u2019re coming together around a shared vision on higher climate standards and protecting our workers and industries from Beijing\u2019s deliberate efforts to distort the market to its advantage.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re partnering with the European Union to protect our citizens\u2019 privacy while strengthening a shared digital economy that depends on vast flows of data.<\/p>\n

With the G20, we reached a landmark deal on a global minimum tax to halt the race to the bottom, make sure that big corporations pay their fair share, and give countries even more resources to invest in their people.\u00a0 More than 130 countries have signed on so far.<\/p>\n

We and our G7 partners are pursuing a coordinated, high-standard, and transparent approach to meet the enormous infrastructure needs in developing countries.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve convened global summits on defeating COVID-19 and renewing global democracy, and rejoined the UN Human Rights Council and the WHO, the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n

And at a moment of great testing, we and our allies have re-energized NATO, which is now as strong as ever.<\/p>\n

These actions are all aimed at defending and, as necessary, reforming the rules-based order that should benefit all nations. We want to lead a race to the top on tech, on climate, infrastructure, global health, and inclusive economic growth.\u00a0 And we want to strengthen a system in which as many countries as possible can come together to cooperate effectively, resolve differences peacefully, write their own futures as sovereign equals.<\/p>\n

Our diplomacy is based on partnership and respect for each other\u2019s interests.\u00a0 We don\u2019t expect every country to have the exact same assessment of China as we do.\u00a0 We know that many countries \u2013 including the United States \u2013 have vital economic or people-to-people ties with China that they want to preserve.\u00a0 This is not about forcing countries to choose.\u00a0 It\u2019s about giving them a choice, so that, for example, the only option isn\u2019t an opaque investment that leaves countries in debt, stokes corruption, harms the environment, fails to create local jobs or growth, and compromises countries\u2019 exercise of their sovereignty.\u00a0 We\u2019ve heard firsthand about buyer\u2019s remorse that these deals can leave behind.<\/p>\n

At every step, we\u2019re consulting with our partners, listening to them, taking their concerns to heart, building solutions that address their unique challenges and priorities.<\/p>\n

There is growing convergence about the need to approach relations with Beijing with more realism.\u00a0 Many of our partners already know from painful experience how Beijing can come down hard when they make choices that it dislikes.\u00a0 Like last spring, when Beijing cut off Chinese students and tourists from traveling to Australia and imposed an 80 percent tariff on Australian barley exports, because Australia\u2019s Government called for an independent inquiry into COVID\u2019s origin.\u00a0 Or last November, when Chinese Coast Guard vessels used water cannons to stop a resupply of a Philippine navy ship in the South China Sea.\u00a0 Actions like these remind the world of how Beijing can retaliate against perceived opposition.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another area of alignment we share with our allies and partners: human rights.<\/p>\n

The United States stands with countries and people around the world against the genocide and crimes against humanity happening in the Xinjiang region, where more than a million people have been placed in detention camps because of their ethnic and religious identity.<\/p>\n

We stand together on Tibet, where the authorities continue to wage a brutal campaign against Tibetans and their culture, language, and religious traditions, and in Hong Kong, where the Chinese Communist Party has imposed harsh anti-democratic measures under the guise of national security.<\/p>\n

Now, Beijing insists that these are somehow internal matters that others have no right to raise.\u00a0 That is wrong.\u00a0 Its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet, along with many other actions, go against the core tenets of the UN Charter that Beijing constantly cites and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that all countries are meant to adhere to.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s quashing of freedom in Hong Kong violates its handover commitments, enshrined in a treaty deposited at the United Nations.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll continue to raise these issues and call for change \u2013 not to stand against China, but to stand up for peace, security, and human dignity.<\/p>\n

That brings us to the third element of our strategy.\u00a0 Thanks to increased investments at home and greater alignment with allies and partners, we are well-positioned to outcompete China in key areas.<\/p>\n

For example, Beijing wants to put itself at the center of global innovation and manufacturing, increase other countries\u2019 technological dependence, and then use that dependence to impose its foreign policy preferences.\u00a0 And Beijing is going to great lengths to win this contest \u2013 for example, taking advantage of the openness of our economies to spy, to hack, to steal technology and know-how to advance its military innovation and entrench its surveillance state.<\/p>\n

So as we make sure the next wave of innovation is unleashed by the United States and our allies and partners, we\u2019ll also protect ourselves against efforts to siphon off our ingenuity or imperil our security.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re sharpening our tools to safeguard our technological competitiveness.\u00a0 That includes new and stronger export controls to make sure our critical innovations don\u2019t end up in the wrong hands; greater protections for academic research, to create an open, secure, and supportive environment for science; better cyber defenses; stronger security for sensitive data; and sharper investment screening measures to defend companies and countries against Beijing\u2019s efforts to gain access to sensitive technologies, data, or critical infrastructure; compromise our supply chains; or dominate key strategic sectors.<\/p>\n

We believe \u2013 and we expect the business community to understand \u2013 that the price of admission to China\u2019s market must not be the sacrifice of our core values or long-term competitive and technological advantages.\u00a0 We\u2019re counting on businesses to pursue growth responsibly, assess risk soberly, and work with us not only to protect but to strengthen our national security.<\/p>\n

For too long, Chinese companies have enjoyed far greater access to our markets than our companies have in China.\u00a0 For example, Americans who want to read the\u00a0China Daily<\/em>\u00a0or communicate via WeChat are free to do so, but\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0and Twitter are prohibited for the Chinese people, except those working for the government who use these platforms to spread propaganda and disinformation.\u00a0 American companies operating in China have been subject to systematic forced technology transfer, while Chinese companies in America have been protected by our rule of law.\u00a0 Chinese filmmakers can freely market their movies to American theater owners without any censorship by the U.S. Government, but Beijing strictly limits the number of foreign movies allowed in the Chinese market, and those that are allowed are subjected to heavy-handed political censorship.\u00a0 China\u2019s businesses in the United States don\u2019t fear using our impartial legal system to defend their rights \u2013 in fact, they\u2019re frequently in court asserting claims against the United States Government.\u00a0 The same isn\u2019t true for foreign firms in China.<\/p>\n

This lack of reciprocity is unacceptable and it\u2019s unsustainable.<\/p>\n

Or consider what happened in the steel market.\u00a0 Beijing directed massive over-investment by Chinese companies, which then flooded the global market with cheap steel.\u00a0 Unlike U.S. companies and other market-oriented firms, Chinese companies don\u2019t need to make a profit \u2013 they just get another injection of state-owned bank credit when funds are running low.\u00a0 Plus, they do little to control pollution or protect the rights of their workers, which also keeps costs down.\u00a0 As a consequence, China now accounts for more than half of global steel production, driving U.S. companies \u2013 as well as factories in India, Mexico, Indonesia, Europe, and elsewhere \u2013 out of the market.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen this same model when it comes to solar panels, electric car batteries \u2013 key sectors of the 21st century economy that we cannot allow to become completely dependent on China.<\/p>\n

Economic manipulations like these have cost American workers millions of jobs.\u00a0 And they\u2019ve harmed the workers and firms of countries around the world.\u00a0 We will push back on market-distorting policies and practices, like subsidies and market access barriers, which China\u2019s government has used for years to gain competitive advantage.\u00a0 We\u2019ll boost supply chain security and resilience by reshoring production or sourcing materials from other countries in sensitive sectors like pharmaceuticals and critical minerals, so that we\u2019re not dependent on any one supplier.\u00a0 We\u2019ll stand together with others against economic coercion and intimidation.\u00a0 And we will work to ensure that U.S. companies don\u2019t engage in commerce that facilitates or benefits from human rights abuses, including forced labor.<\/p>\n

In short, we\u2019ll fight for American workers and industry with every tool we have \u2013 just as we know that our partners will fight for their workers.<\/p>\n

The United States does not want to sever China\u2019s economy from ours or from the global economy \u2013 though Beijing, despite its rhetoric, is pursuing asymmetric decoupling, seeking to make China less dependent on the world and the world more dependent on China.\u00a0 For our part, we want trade and investment as long as they\u2019re fair and don\u2019t jeopardize our national security.\u00a0 China has formidable economic resources, including a highly capable workforce.\u00a0 We\u2019re confident that our workers, our companies will compete successfully \u2013 and we welcome that competition \u2013 on a level playing field.<\/p>\n

So as we push back responsibly on unfair technology and economic practices, we\u2019ll work to maintain economic and people-to-people ties connecting the United States and China, consistent with our interests and our values.\u00a0 Beijing may not be willing to change its behavior.\u00a0 But if it takes concrete action to address the concerns that we and many other countries have voiced, we will respond positively.<\/p>\n

Competition need not lead to conflict.\u00a0 We do not seek it.\u00a0 We will work to avoid it.\u00a0 But we will defend our interests against any threat.<\/p>\n

To that end, President Biden has instructed the Department of Defense to hold China as its pacing challenge, to ensure that our military stays ahead.\u00a0 We\u2019ll seek to preserve peace through a new approach that we call \u201cintegrated deterrence\u201d \u2013 bringing in allies and partners; working across the conventional, the nuclear, space, and informational domains; drawing on our reinforcing strengths in economics, in technology, and in diplomacy.<\/p>\n

The administration is shifting our military investments away from platforms that were designed for the conflicts of the 20th century toward asymmetric systems that are longer-range, harder to find, easier to move.\u00a0 We\u2019re developing new concepts to guide how we conduct military operations.\u00a0 And we\u2019re diversifying our force posture and global footprint, fortifying our networks, critical civilian infrastructure, and space-based capabilities.\u00a0 We\u2019ll help our allies and partners in the region with their own asymmetric capabilities, too.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll continue to oppose Beijing\u2019s aggressive and unlawful activities in the South and East China Seas.\u00a0 Nearly six years ago, an international tribunal found that Beijing\u2019s claims in the South China Sea have no basis in international law.\u00a0 We\u2019ll support the region\u2019s coastal states in upholding their maritime rights.\u00a0 We\u2019ll work with allies and partners to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight, which has enabled the region\u2019s prosperity for decades.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll continue to fly and sail wherever international law allows.<\/p>\n

On Taiwan, our approach has been consistent across decades and administrations.\u00a0 As the President has said, our policy has not changed. The United States remains committed to our \u201cone China\u201d policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, the Six Assurances.\u00a0 We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.<\/p>\n

We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue to uphold our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability \u2013 and, as indicated in the TRA, to \u201cmaintain our capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security or the social or economic system, of Taiwan.\u201d\u00a0 We enjoy a strong unofficial relationship with Taiwan, a vibrant democracy and leading economy in the region.\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue to expand our cooperation with Taiwan on our many shared interests and values, support Taiwan\u2019s meaningful participation in the international community, deepen our economic ties, consistent with our \u201cone China\u201d policy.<\/p>\n

While our policy has not changed, what has changed is Beijing\u2019s growing coercion \u2013 like trying to cut off Taiwan\u2019s relations with countries around the world and blocking it from participating in international organizations.\u00a0 And Beijing has engaged in increasingly provocative rhetoric and activity, like flying PLA aircraft near Taiwan on an almost daily basis.\u00a0 These words and actions are deeply destabilizing; they risk miscalculation and threaten the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.\u00a0 As we saw from the President\u2019s discussions with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, maintaining peace and stability across the strait is not just a U.S. interest; it is a matter of international concern, critical to regional and global security and prosperity.<\/p>\n

As President Biden likes to say, the only conflict worse than an intended one is an unintended one.\u00a0 We\u2019ll manage this relationship responsibly to prevent that from happening.\u00a0 We\u2019ve prioritized crisis communications and risk reduction measures with Beijing.\u00a0 And on this issue \u2013 and every other \u2013 we remain committed to intense diplomacy alongside intense competition.<\/p>\n

Even as we invest, align, and compete, we\u2019ll work together with Beijing where our interests come together.\u00a0 We can\u2019t let the disagreements that divide us stop us from moving forward on the priorities that demand that we work together, for the good of our people and for the good of the world.<\/p>\n

That starts with climate.\u00a0 China and the United States had years of stalemate on climate, which gridlocked the world \u2013 but also periods of progress, which galvanized the world.\u00a0 The climate diplomacy channel launched in 2013 between China and the United States unleashed global momentum that produced the Paris Agreement.\u00a0 Last year at COP26, the world\u2019s hopes were buoyed when the United States and China issued our Glasgow Joint Declaration to work together to address emissions from methane to coal.<\/p>\n

Climate is not about ideology.\u00a0 It\u2019s about math.\u00a0 There\u2019s simply no way to solve climate change without China\u2019s leadership, the country that produces 28 percent of global emissions.\u00a0 The International Energy Agency has made clear that if China sticks with its current plan and does not peak its emissions until 2030, then the rest of the world must go to zero by 2035.\u00a0 And that\u2019s simply not possible.<\/p>\n

Today about 20 nations are responsible for 80 percent of emissions.\u00a0 China is number one.\u00a0 The United States is number two.\u00a0 Unless we all do much more, much faster, the financial and human cost will be catastrophic.\u00a0 Plus, competing on clean energy and climate policy can produce results that benefit everyone.<\/p>\n

The progress that the United States and China make together \u2013 including through the working group established by the Glasgow Declaration \u2013 is vital to our success in avoiding the worst consequences of this crisis.\u00a0 I urge China to join us in accelerating the pace of these shared efforts.<\/p>\n

Likewise, on the COVID-19 pandemic, our fates are linked.\u00a0 And our hearts go out to the Chinese people as they deal with this latest wave.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been through our own deeply painful ordeal with COVID.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we\u2019re so convinced that all countries need to work together to vaccinate the world \u2013 not in exchange for favors or political concessions, but for the simple reason that no country will be safe until all are safe.\u00a0 And all nations must transparently share data and samples \u2013 and provide access to experts \u2013 for new variants and emerging and re-emerging pathogens, to prevent the next pandemic even as we fight the current one.<\/p>\n

On nonproliferation and arms control, it\u2019s in all of our interests to uphold the rules, the norms, the treaties that have reduced the spread of weapons of mass destruction.\u00a0 China and the United States must keep working together, and with other countries, to address Iran and North Korea\u2019s nuclear programs.\u00a0 And we remain ready to discuss directly with Beijing our respective responsibilities as nuclear powers.<\/p>\n

To counter illegal and illicit narcotics, especially synthetic opioids like fentanyl that killed more than 100,000 Americans last year, we want to work with China to stop international drug trafficking organizations from getting precursor chemicals, many of which originate in China.<\/p>\n

As a global food crisis threatens people worldwide, we look to China \u2013 a country that\u2019s achieved great things in agriculture \u2013 to help with a global response.\u00a0 Last week at the United Nations, the United States convened a meeting of foreign ministers to strengthen global food security.\u00a0 We extended an invitation to China to join.\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue to do so.<\/p>\n

And as the world\u2019s economy recovers from the devastation of the pandemic, global macroeconomic coordination between the United States and China is key \u2013 through the G20, the IMF, other venues, and of course, bilaterally.\u00a0 That comes with the territory of being the world\u2019s two largest economies.<\/p>\n

In short, we\u2019ll engage constructively with China wherever we can, not as a favor to us or anyone else, and never in exchange for walking away from our principles, but because working together to solve great challenges is what the world expects from great powers, and because it\u2019s directly in our interest.\u00a0 No country should withhold progress on existential transnational issues because of bilateral differences.<\/p>\n

The scale and the scope of the challenge posed by the People\u2019s Republic of China will test American diplomacy like nothing we\u2019ve seen before.\u00a0 I\u2019m determined to give the State Department and our diplomats the tools that they need to meet this challenge head on as part of my modernization agenda.\u00a0 This includes building a China House \u2013 a department-wide integrated team that will coordinate and implement our policy across issues and regions, working with Congress as needed.\u00a0 And here, I must mention an outstanding team at our embassy in Beijing and our consulates across China, led by Ambassador Nick Burns.\u00a0 They do exceptional work every day, and many have been doing their jobs in recent weeks through these intense COVID lockdowns.\u00a0 Despite extreme conditions, they\u2019ve persisted.\u00a0 We\u2019re grateful for this terrific team.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been more convinced about the power and the purpose of American diplomacy or sure about our capacity to meet the challenges of this decisive decade.\u00a0 To the American people: let\u2019s recommit to investing in our core strengths, in our people, in our democracy, in our innovative spirit.\u00a0 As President Biden often says, it\u2019s never a good bet to bet against America.\u00a0 But let\u2019s bet on ourselves and win the competition for the future.<\/p>\n

To countries around the world committed to building an open, secure, and prosperous future, let\u2019s work in common cause to uphold the principles that make our shared progress possible and stand up for the right of every nation to write its own future.\u00a0 And to the people of China:\u00a0 we\u2019ll compete with confidence; we\u2019ll cooperate wherever we can; we\u2019ll contest where we must.\u00a0 We do not see conflict.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason why our great nations cannot coexist peacefully, and share in and contribute to human progress together.\u00a0 That\u2019s what everything I\u2019ve said today boils down to: advancing human progress, leaving to our children a world that\u2019s more peaceful, more prosperous, and more free.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much for listening.\u00a0 (Applause.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

05\/26\/2022 01:44 PM EDT   Antony...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48781,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48780\/revisions\/48781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}