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In an interview aired on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that China has recently acted “more aggressively abroad” and is behaving “increasingly adversarially.”
“It’s profoundly against the interests of both China and the United States to get to that point, or even to head in that direction,” Blinken said, when asked if Washington was heading toward a military confrontation with Beijing.
” “China has become more authoritarian at home and assertive abroad in recent years,” he continued. This is unquestionably correct.”
When asked about China’s alleged theft of hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property, Blinken stated that the Biden administration had “real concerns” about the issue.
He stated that the actions sounded similar “someone who is attempting to compete in an unfair and increasingly adversarial manner But when we bring together like-minded and similarly aggrieved countries to say to Beijing, “This can’t and won’t stand,” we’re much more effective and powerful.”
On Sunday, a request for comment on Blinken’s interview was not immediately returned by the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
President Joe Biden’s administration said on Friday that China had failed to meet its obligations under the “Phase 1” U.S.-China trade agreement signed last year to protect American intellectual property.
The pledges were part of a larger agreement between former President Donald Trump’s administration and China, which included regulatory changes on agricultural biotechnology and two-year commitments to buy $200 billion in US exports.
Blinken arrived in London on Sunday for a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers, where China will be one of the topics discussed.
In the interview, Blinken stated that the United States’ goal was not to become a nuclear power “”Uphold this rules-based order – to which China is posing a challenge” rather than “contain China.” We’ll stand up and – and defend that order if it’s challenged.”
Biden has identified China’s competition as his administration’s most serious foreign policy challenge. He pledged to maintain a strong US military presence in the Indo-Pacific and to boost US technological development in his first speech to Congress last Wednesday.
“Pretty close to daily,” Blinken said he speaks with Biden.
Last month, Blinken expressed concern about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan, saying that anyone attempting to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force would be making a “serious mistake.”
According to Blinken, the US has a long-standing commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to ensure that self-governing Taiwan is capable of defending itself and maintaining peace and security in the western Pacific.
Taiwan has complained about Chinese air force missions near the island, which China claims as its own, over the last few months.
