Blinken FIVE
China to make solemn representations and demands during Blinken’s visit on Taiwan, South China Sea and technology restriction
Blinken Five include Taiwan, South China Sea and technology restriction
By Global Times
Ahead of the upcoming visit of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China this week, a senior official from China's Foreign Ministry introduced five major targets that China is focusing on during this visit, making solemn representations and demands on matters such as the Taiwan question, trade and technology restrictions and the South China Sea issue.
Blinken's visit is part of the agreements made during the heads of state meeting in San Francisco in November 2023, aimed at maintaining dialogue, managing differences, advancing cooperation, and strengthening coordination on international affairs. The two sides have maintained communication regarding this visit, an official from the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the ministry, told the media.
On April 2, during a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Biden expressed his hope that a visit by Blinken to China could be arranged. China welcomed this proposal, the official said.
Under the strategic guidance of both heads of state, China-US relations have shown signs of stabilising after a period of decline. However, negative factors in the bilateral relations are also prominent, the official said.
The US is stubbornly advancing its strategy to contain China, continuously engaging in actions and rhetoric that interfere in China's internal affairs, tarnishing China's image, and harming China's interests, to which we resolutely oppose and counteract.
Valuing peace, prioritizing stability, and basing actions on trust are the principles that China adheres to in managing China-US relations. Regarding Blinken's visit, China mainly focuses on five objectives, the Chinese official further explained.
The first objective is establishing correct recognition. We urge the US to implement Biden's commitments, together with China, to turn the "San Francisco vision" into reality, rather than continuing to contain and suppress China in the name of "competition."
The diplomatic teams of both sides will continue discussions on guiding principles for China-US relations based on the consensus reached on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, maintaining communication, preventing conflict, adhering to the UN Charter, cooperating in areas of mutual interest, and responsibly managing competitive aspects of the bilateral relationship.
China is also seeking to strengthen dialogue. Since the San Francisco meeting, China and the US have conducted a series of important engagements across various levels and fields and heads of departments responsible for diplomacy and security, economics, trade and finance, climate change, law enforcement, agriculture, and culture have maintained interactions through visits, meetings, calls, and working group meetings. Communication between the two militaries has also resumed.
Over 20 institutional consultations established or restarted at the San Francisco meeting continue to operate. China's door to dialogue and communication is always open. Meanwhile, the US must recognize that communication should not be for the sake of communication alone, should not say one thing and do another, and should not fantasize about dealing with China from a so-called position of strength.
The so-called US alliance system is a product of the Cold War era, reflecting outdated Cold War thinking and a zero-sum game mentality. The US is obsessed with roping in allies to form an anti-China clique, which is completely against the trend, unpopular, and a dead end, the Chinese official said.
The third objective is effectively managing differences. In particular, the US must not provoke China's red lines on matters such as the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, systemic paths, and development rights.
China's determination and will to protect its national sovereignty, security, and development interests are unwavering, with a focus on clarifying firm positions and making clear demands on matters such as the Taiwan question, economic and technological trade, and the South China Sea, the Chinese official said.
The official also emphasized that the Taiwan question is the first and foremost red line in China-US relations. Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwan question is China's internal affair. "Taiwan independence" and peace in the Taiwan Straits are incompatible.
The greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits is the split activities of "Taiwan independence" forces and external indulgence and support, which we will never tolerate, the official noted.
China resolutely opposes the recent wrong actions and rhetoric of the US on the Taiwan question, urges the US to adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, implement Biden's statement of not supporting "Taiwan independence" into actions, oppose "Taiwan independence," stop arming Taiwan, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and support China's peaceful reunification.
On trade and technology issues, the Chinese official said the US has intensified its measures to suppress China, constantly adopting new measures in export controls, investment reviews, and unilateral sanctions, seriously harming China's interests.
"This is not de-risking, but creating risks," the official said. The so-called "Chinese overcapacity rhetoric" thrown out by the US seems like an economic concept, but it is actually a false narrative.
Behind it lies the malicious intent to contain and suppress the development of Chinese industries, aiming to seek more advantageous competitive positions and market advantages for the US, which is a blatant act of economic coercion and hegemonic bullying, the official said.
The previous Trump administration initiated a 301 investigation against China and imposed additional tariffs on China, which has been ruled by the World Trade Organization as a violation of WTO rules, opposed by many WTO members. The US' launch of a new 301 investigation out of domestic political considerations is a mistake repeated.
China also resolutely opposes the politicization of economic and technological issues by the US, and warns the US that suppressing Chinese technology is to contain China's high-quality development, deprive the Chinese people of their legitimate development rights, and China will resolutely respond.
On the South China Sea issue, China resolutely opposes the US' involvement in the South China Sea issue and its attempts to sow discord between China and ASEAN.
China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters and is willing to continue properly handling maritime issues through dialogue and consultation with relevant parties, jointly maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests are inviolable, and China's determination and will to defend its legitimate rights are unwavering.
China and the US have established consultation mechanisms on maritime and Asia-Pacific affairs, and both sides can continue to dialogue. However, the US is not a party to the South China Sea issue, should not intervene, and even less should stir up trouble.
Some senior US State Department officials - including its top narcotics official Todd Robinson - will join Blinken's trip to China, and they are expected to discuss efforts to curb the flow of deadly fentanyl chemicals from China to the US, Reuters reported.
The Chinese official said fentanyl is not a Chinese problem, nor is it a problem caused by China, but we have not stood by idly, willing to offer help to the American people.
Since the San Francisco meeting, China has followed through on its words, and China-US drug prohibition cooperation has made progress, with China also making tremendous efforts. The US should reciprocate and address China's concerns.
During Blinken's visit, the Chinese side will also make clear demands and representations to the US on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Ukraine crisis and the recent negative development such as US' summit with Japan and the Philippines. Also, it will discuss the issue of high concern of US unwarranted interrogation, harassment and even deportation of Chinese students.
The international community is extremely dissatisfied and disappointed with the US' exclusive veto of Palestine becoming a formal member of the UN in the Security Council. Palestine becoming a formal member of the UN should not be the result of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, but rather should be Palestine's equal negotiation condition, an important step toward a two-state solution.
In adhering to international law and Security Council rules, the US has no exceptions or privileges and should put aside its hegemonic mentality. The US should, together with other member states, fulfill its international responsibilities, support Security Council Resolution 2728, and promote a comprehensive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible to save the Palestinian people from dire straits. China will make clear demands to the US on this matter, the official said.
On the Ukraine crisis, China is not the creator or party involved in the conflict, always maintains an objective and fair stance, actively advocates for peace and promotes talks, pushes for a political solution, and will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.
The US needs to seriously reflect on the responsibilities it should bear in the Ukraine crisis, avoid actions that add fuel to the fire, take advantage of the situation, attack and smear the normal state relations between China and Russia, incite camp confrontation, and further should not smear or slander China, shift blame, the Chinese official stressed.
Also, the US should immediately stop imposing unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals. The Ukraine issue is not a problem between China and the US, and the US should not make it a problem between China and the US.
On the US-Japan-Philippines summit and US' advancement of its Indo-Pacific strategy, the Chinese official said the US deployment of medium-range missile launch systems in the Philippines has intensified regional tension and increased the risk of misunderstanding and misjudgment.
The "trilateral security partnership" cobbled together by the US, UK, and Australia, which insists on developing nuclear submarines in the region, poses serious nuclear proliferation risks and intensifies the arms race.
We urge the US to genuinely respect the security concerns and efforts of other countries in the region to maintain peace and stability, abandon Cold War thinking, stop creating military tensions and camp confrontations, and stop assembling an anti-China containment clique around China.
Blinken said in a report released on Monday ahead of his visit to China that "Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uygurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province," Reuters reported.
Regarding the US claim that it will express concerns about human rights issues during this visit, the Chinese official said that issues related to Xinjiang, Xizang, and Hong Kong are matters of China's internal affairs and have nothing to do with so-called human rights.
The US must not use human rights as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs. Human rights are not the patent of any country. How human rights are in a country is best judged by its own people. The US should first face its own human rights issues and has no right to point fingers at other countries.
Concerning the US' unwarranted interrogation, harassment, and even deportation of Chinese students, the Chinese official said the US continues to overstretch the concept of national security, arbitrarily canceling visas, denying entry, and forcibly deporting Chinese students without concrete evidence, causing great harm to the individuals involved.
The "little black rooms" at some US airports have become a nightmare for Chinese students, which is completely contrary to the US' stated support for facilitating and supporting cultural exchanges between the two countries.
China will continue to urge the US to stop poisoning the public opinion environment between the two countries, stop obstructing friendly exchanges between the people of the two countries, correct wrong practices, conduct thorough investigations into relevant cases, and give an explanation to the victims, the official said.
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Blinken’s Human Rights Record?
Secretary Blinken remarks on the release of the 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Press Briefing (amended)
SECRETARY BLINKEN: So I am pleased to be here to launch the 2023 Human Rights Report. At the end of last year, we marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, affirming the fundamental idea that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Those words 75 years ago enshrined a wide range of universal rights – civil and political, economic, social, cultural – the right to express ourselves freely, to choose our leaders, to worship as we wish, the right to education, to just labor conditions.
Standing up for freedom and human rights is simply the right thing to do. But defending and promoting this inalienable and universal rights is also profoundly in our national interest. Countries that respect human rights are more likely to be peaceful, prosperous, stable.
The report that we’re putting out today presents a factual, systematic account of human rights records across nearly 200 countries and territories. Each one is held to the same standard – developed and developing countries, competitors, as well as allies and partners. While the report focuses on human rights challenges abroad, we recognize that the United States faces its own shortcomings. The strength of democracies like ours is that we address those shortcomings, those imperfections openly, without sweeping them under the rug.
The report illustrates that there is much work to be done to uphold the rights set out in the Universal Declaration. We once again see human rights and the rule of law under stress in more ways and in more places across the globe. Governments continue to lock up citizens who challenge those in power and call for a better future, from Belarus to Venezuela. Many are young. Of the roughly 1,000 political prisoners in Cuba, the average age is just 32.
Tragically, as we saw with Aleksey Navalny’s unjust imprisonment in a Russian penal colony, incarceration can come with horrific conditions – with abuse, even death. Governments like Russia also arbitrarily detain foreign nationals for political purposes, using human beings as bargaining chips. Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and every unjustly held individual deserves to go free. The United States and our many partners will keep working every day to reunite them with their families and to hold accountable governments that engage in this deplorable practice.
At the same time, the report shows that governments are extending their abuses beyond their own borders. Nicaragua – attempting to pressure and punish exiled activists by seizing their assets. Tajikistan – working with other countries to forcibly return human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists who’ve fled abroad.
The report documents atrocities reminiscent of humanity’s darkest moments. In Sudan, both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have committed war crimes. Rohingya in Burma, Uyghurs in Xinjiang – each victims of genocide and crimes against humanity. The United States will continue to raise our deep concerns directly with the governments responsible.
This year’s report also captures human rights abuses against members of vulnerable communities. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have limited work opportunities for women, shuttered institutions found educating girls, and increasing floggings for women and men accused of, quote, “immoral behavior,” end quote. Uganda passed a draconian and discriminatory Anti-Homosexuality Act, threatening LGBTQI+ individuals with life imprisonment, even death, simply for being with the person they loved.
Across countries and regions, authorities are increasingly using technology to intimidate, to censor, to surveil. Governments are deploying artifical intelligence to spread disinformation, and even tracking people based on their DNA. They’re cutting off and throttling internet access, as Iran did to suppress protests sparked by the death of Mahsa “Zhina” Amini. The Assad regime and others are abusing commercial spyware to target journalists and activists.
The United States is also actively working to ensure that emerging technologies are used to bolster rights, not undermine them; to make sure that technology is used to advance equal opportunity, not to discriminate against people.
Just to cite one example, we’ve mobilized a coalition of likeminded governments to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware. Today, as part of our government-wide effort, we’re imposing visa restrictions on more than a dozen individuals who contributed to human rights abuses by helping to develop and sell these tools.
Hamas’s horrific attacks on Israel on October 7th last year, and the devastating loss of civilian life in Gaza as Israel exercises its right to ensure that those attacks never happen again, have also raised deeply troubling human rights concerns.
We continue to work every day to bring the fighting to an end, to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and other groups, to uphold international humanitarian law, to prevent further suffering, to create a path toward a more peaceful and secure future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
These are just a few illustrations from the many countries covered in this report. And the report itself is just one of numerous ways that the United States is working to promote respect for rights and the dignity of all people. We also leveraged bipartisan legislation, like the Global Magnitsky Act, and tools like the Khashoggi Ban to hold to account those who perpetrate or profit from human rights abuses.
Thanks in part to efforts like these, especially by advocates and citizens who are on the front lines, 2023 also saw some encouraging developments. Despite the proliferation of anti-LGBTI+ laws in some parts of the world, countries from Estonia to Japan to Mauritius made important strides in advancing the rights of LGBTQI+ individuals. Even as labor activists have been targeted, locked up, and killed, unions from South Africa to Mexico to Brazil improved working conditions and advanced workers organizing themselves – key objectives of the global labor directive that President Biden issued last November.
Jordan took steps to ensure that children with disabilities could attend school and receive the support that they need. These bright spots are an important reminder that progress on human rights is indeed possible, as long as committed individuals in every part of the globe continue to work to uphold fundamental dignity for all people.
On that note, let me just close by thanking a remarkably dedicated team across this department – here in this building, at our posts around the world – who have spent months painstakingly compiling this report. I also want to recognize everyone who helped document the incidents that make up this important resource – journalists, human rights defenders, citizens – often at great personal risk. Because of each of you, we have a clearer picture of human rights conditions as they are, as well as a renewed determination to strengthen them for the future.
So with that, let me take a few questions, and then I’ll turn it back over to Bob and to Matt.
MR MILLER: Humeyra.
QUESTION: Hello, Mr. Secretary. I have two questions; one is about the report, but let me quickly go to your phone calls last night. You had two important phone calls with Israel’s Benny Gantz and Yoav Gallant, who both strongly objected to upcoming punitive action from U.S. on specific Israeli military unit over human rights allegations. Have those phone calls changed your mind? When will you announce the action?
And then coming back to the report again, in this report you have a sentence saying Israelis operating in Gaza took no publicly visible steps to identify and punish officials accused of committing rights abuses. The accusations about IDF’s military conduct in Gaza have piled up; they include using food as a weapon, targeting civilian infrastructure, indiscriminate bombing – something even the President has said is taking place. So I’m wondering, we know you’ve got ongoing processes about this, but could you tell us why is it taking so long to make a definitive assessment about these? And the fact that it’s taken so long triggers, like – leads a lot of people suggesting that U.S. has a double standard when it comes to applying the law with Israel. Does the U.S. have a double standard? Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Great. Thanks, Humeyra. Let me start with the last part of the question: Do we have a double standard? The answer is no. As this report makes clear, in general, as we’re looking at human rights and the condition of human rights around the world, we apply the same standard to everyone, and that doesn’t change whether the country in question is an adversary, a competitor, a friend, or an ally. And that’s hugely important.
With regard to the Leahy Law report that I think you were referring to at the outset, this is a – I think a good example of a process that is very deliberate, that seeks to get the facts, to get all the information, that has to be done carefully, and that’s exactly how we proceeded, as we proceed with any country that is the recipient of military assistance from the United States. And again, the same standard applies.
I don’t have more to say about it today, but I think you’ll see in the days ahead that we will have more to say, so please stay tuned on that.
On Gaza itself, a few things. First, from day one, we’ve been working to do everything we can to try to increase protection for civilians as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance for the Gazans who so desperately need it. When it comes to allegations of incidents of – whether it’s violations of international humanitarian law, rights abuses, you name it, we have processes within the department that are looking at incidents that have been raised. Those processes are ongoing. And here, again, it’s important that we take the time to do our best to get the facts, to get the information, to do the analysis. It’s very challenging to do this in real time. And most – as you’ll see if you look back at other places where we’ve made determinations ourselves, it usually takes time to do that to get the – to get the information.
QUESTION: Can you at least provide a timeline for any of that?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: So I’m not going to give you a timeline except to say that these efforts are ongoing. And when we feel that we’ve made the – that we have the facts, we’ve been able to do the analysis, we’ll make known the findings. Similarly, though, when we see reports of incidents, we also take these directly to – in this case – the Israeli Government and ask for an explanation, information about what did or didn’t happen. That too is an ongoing process, and it’s, I think, very important to make sure that countries know that we’re watching this very, very carefully. But as I say on the Leahy piece of this, more to come in the coming days.
MR MILLER: Kylie.
QUESTION: Thank you for doing this, Secretary. I have a question on the report as well with regard to what it says about Gaza, and it says that war crimes have been committed by Israel and Hamas. And I wonder if this building is actually looking into those allegations to determine their validity, like you guys looked into allegations of war crimes in Ukraine; and if there isn’t an assessment happening in this building, who the U.S. Government is relying on for that assessment to be made.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yeah, so Kylie, as I said, we are looking into reports, incidents that are brought to our attention, and we have a process to do that, particularly if there are questions about whether U.S. arms have been involved, and that is ongoing. And we are continuing to be focused on that.
Every situation, every country is different. For example, the case of Ukraine, where we have made certain determinations, totally different situation than in Gaza. The Ukrainians, first of all, themselves were not in any way a legitimate target the way, of course, Hamas is in Gaza. They were also not embedding themselves with civilians, hiding in and under apartment buildings, mosques, hospitals, you name it. And in addition, in the case of Ukraine, when Russian forces, for example, withdrew from Bucha, we were able to see, the world was able to see very plainly what had happened, and we were able to get the evidence.
So each of these situations is different, and we have to do our best to collect the facts and follow the facts, and that’s what we’re doing.
QUESTION: So ultimately, just to be clear, this building will make its own determination if war crimes are being committed by Israel or Hamas or any of those other groups?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: We will – we make our own determinations, and of course there may be other bodies that do the same, but we make our own determinations. But importantly in the case of Israel, Israel has and has demonstrated the capacity also to look at itself. And again, this is what separates democracies from other countries – the ability, the willingness, the determination to look at themselves. It’s my understanding that they have many open investigations based on reports that have been – that have come forward with allegations about abuses of human rights or abuse of international humanitarian law, laws of war, et cetera.
So in the first instance, I think that’s the most important thing, that any of our democracies have to make sure that we’re policing ourselves, holding ourselves to the standards that we’re asking of others. I believe Israel is in the process of doing that based, on knowledge of open investigations that they have. And as I said, when incidents are brought to our attention, we look at them, and particularly if there’s a possibility that U.S. arms were used in those incidents.
Thanks.
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