The United States is engaged in a vigorous competition with China to maintain the current world order, declared on Thursday as head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, denying any desire to enter into a new “cold war”.
In a most anticipated speech in China at George Washington University, the secretary of state said Beijing posed currently the most serious risk of breaking international order.
This intervention puts China at the center of the United States ’geopolitical concerns, after months of monopoly war in Ukraine.
” China is the only country that both wants to reshape the global order and increasingly has ways to do so economically, diplomatically, militarily and technologically. “
Beijing’s vision will take us away from the universal values that have underpinned most of the world’s development over the past 75 years.He added.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who often describes the world today as an opposition between democracies and autocracies, believes this decade will be decisiveaccording to Antony Blinken.
The United States recognizes that changing China’s trajectory and President Xi Jinping’s ambitions will be difficult.
This is why we will strive to create a strategic environment around Beijing to advance our vision of an open and inclusive international system.said the United States Secretary of State.
In his speech, he denounced the attitude of increasing coercion of China vis-à-vis Taiwan, while insisting that Washington’s policy on this issue has not changed.
Joe Biden has twice caused trouble in recent months by indicating that the United States is ready to defend Taiwan militarily.
This speech by Antony Blinken in China is in line with the positions of the Biden administration. At first it was thought that this would be announced by the president himself.
On Joe Biden’s recent Asian tour and an unprecedented summit in Washington in early May with Southeast Asian leaders, he aimed to show that the U.S. administration remains focused on Asia.
” We are not looking for conflict or a new cold war. On the contrary, we are determined to avoid them. […] We do not want to prevent China from playing its role as a major power or hinder China or any country from growing its economy and defending the interests of its citizens. “
But the protection of international order, including respect for international laws and treaties, will allow all countries – including the United States and China – to live and work together.
Between pressure and teamwork
When it comes to power, the Biden administration has placed China at the top of its international priorities by describing the country as its only long -term competitor on a global scale.
The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin represents a severe and immediate threat for the global order and that its outs reinforce the message of respect for international rules, explained a senior American official on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration has repeatedly cited the need to force China to play by rules, including in the South China Sea and trade disputes, in which the U.S. accuses Beijing of theft in general.
President Biden tried to unite his allies against China and announced in Tokyo on Monday the launch of a new Asia-Pacific economic partnership to balance Beijing.
But the United States believes cooperation is possible with Beijing in some areas, such as the fight against climate change.
These agreements should not prevent a strong condemnation of China’s human rights violations, according to Washington, which specifically considers that Beijing is committing genocide against the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
Source: Radio-Canada
