Blinken Addresses U.S. Rivalry With China, Russia in Senate Hearing -- 2nd Update
20 January 2021 - 10:07AM
Dow Jones News
By William Mauldin and Michael R. Gordon
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary
of state told a Senate panel Tuesday that China and Russia are
increasingly U.S. rivals and that he hopes to pursue foreign policy
with more humility and respect for U.S. diplomats than did the
Trump administration.
Longtime Biden aide Antony Blinken faced senators who broadly
respect his career and qualifications but have strong opinions
about policy issues, including whether the Biden administration
will attempt to work with China on some issues in a potential step
back from the Trump administration's confrontation with
Beijing.
"We can outcompete China -- and remind the world that a
government of the people, by the people, can deliver for its
people," Mr. Blinken told the committee in opening remarks, without
elaborating on the China rivalry.
Current U.S. threats include rising nationalism, receding
democracy, growing rivalry with China and Russia, and a
technological revolution that is "reshaping every aspect of our
lives, especially in cyberspace," Mr. Blinken said, drawing a
contrast between the world that Biden aides face now and the one
they saw during their tenure in the Obama administration.
Mr. Blinken said he would welcome ideas from both political
parties and said under questioning by Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.)
that he backed some elements of the outgoing Trump administration's
foreign policy. Among those policies, he said, were efforts to
increase defense spending by North Atlantic Treaty Organization
allies, normalize relations between Israel and Arab states, and
take a tougher approach to China.
"The basic principle was the right one," Mr. Blinken said
regarding China, adding that he disagreed with the methods, which
included a trade war that imposed tariffs on imports and unilateral
sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
"There is no doubt that [China] poses the most significant
challenge of any nation-state in the world to the United States,"
Mr. Blinken said in response to questions from Sen. Robert Menendez
(D., N.J.).
Mr. Blinken cited human-rights issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang,
where China has drawn criticism for its policies toward the Uighur
ethnic group, and he backed military and diplomatic support for
Taiwan in international organizations. On Tuesday, the current
secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, declared that China's actions and
policies in Xinjiang with regard to the Uighur ethnic group
constitute genocide.
Mr. Blinken said there also are issues where it makes sense to
cooperate with Beijing. On climate change, Sen. Mitt Romney (R.,
Utah), said he hoped the efforts of John Kerry -- who served as
former secretary of state under former President Barack Obama and
is set to spearhead Mr. Biden's international climate agenda --
wouldn't trump Mr. Blinken's overall approach to Beijing.
Several senators raised the question of Iran and its nuclear
ambitions and cautioned Mr. Blinken about leading a return to the
2015 nuclear deal without consulting with lawmakers, world powers
and regional partners.
Mr. Blinken said Iran would represent a much greater threat if
it wields nuclear weapons or gets to the threshold of nuclear
weapons, and he said the Biden administration would seek to move
toward a "longer and stronger" agreement with Iran. The next steps
would depend on what happens with Iran, Mr. Blinken said, without
elaborating on plans for engaging with Tehran.
"President Biden is committed to the proposition that Iran will
not acquire a nuclear weapon," Mr. Blinken said.
Mr. Blinken, whose family includes several former diplomats,
benefits from longstanding support and connections on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, where he led the staff for six years.
He is widely expected to be confirmed to lead the State Department
soon after Mr. Biden's inauguration, aides say.
"I will work with you to reinvigorate the department by
investing in its greatest asset: the foreign service officers,
civil servants, and locally employed staff who animate American
diplomacy around the world," Mr. Blinken said in his opening
remarks.
Particularly under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the
Trump administration sought major cuts to the State Department
budget and staffing, and an association of career foreign-service
officers in 2017 said the department's leadership ranks were being
depleted at a dizzying speed.
Mr. Blinken also was likely to be asked about WestExec Advisors,
a Washington consulting firm he co-founded that touts its
high-level connections.
Write to William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com and Michael
R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 19, 2021 17:52 ET (22:52 GMT)
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