He expressed his concern about Hong Kong and Xinjiang in his first telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart

Biden wants to adopt a "decisive" military strategy toward China

Biden announced the formation of a working group within the Ministry of Defense to develop a strategy towards China.

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US President Joe Biden expressed to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, his concern about the human rights situation in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, in their first conversation since he took office on January 20, and Biden also expressed his desire to adopt a new "firm" military strategy against China At the same time, he emphasized that the use of force should be the "last tool" for the solution.

And as the White House announced, in a statement, Biden expressed to Shi in the conversation - which laid out frameworks that may be a continuation of the thorny relations between the two superpowers - his "greetings and good wishes" to the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year celebrations.

But in laying a ground for relations between Washington and Beijing, after four turbulent years during the reign of his predecessor, Donald Trump, Biden challenged his counterpart about the expansion of China's influence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the suppression of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, and the persecution of millions of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.

In the phone conversation, Biden told Shi that his priorities are to protect the security, prosperity, health and lifestyle of Americans, and to preserve the "Indian and Pacific Ocean free and open," according to the White House communication statement.

The statement said that Biden "specifically emphasized his deep concerns about coercive and unfair Chinese economic practices, repression in Hong Kong, human rights violations in Xinjiang, and increasingly firm measures in the region, including toward Taiwan."

The two presidents also discussed, according to the statement, the "Covid-19" pandemic, climate change and weapons proliferation.

The White House said that Biden "pledged practical practices that seek to achieve results when they are in the interest of the American people and in the interest of our allies."

In Beijing, officials confirmed the phone conversation, and official media said only that the two sides "deeply exchanged views on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues."

The conversation is not the first contact between Biden and Xi, as the two men met while Biden was vice president in Barack Obama's administration between 2009 and 2017.

Biden, however, used the call to chart his approach to bilateral relations that had been marred by great tension during the Trump era.

Trump has taken firm unilateral trade measures against China, in an effort that has not succeeded in filling the US trade deficit with it, and his administration has strongly defied China's claims to sovereignty over areas at sea, punishing Chinese industry and researchers for their supposed theft of American technology.

Relations worsened further a year ago, when Trump accused Beijing of covering up the origins of the emerging coronavirus.

A senior Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new president felt he was in a strong position to emphasize US interests for Xi.

As Trump severed ties with longstanding allies for a unilateral approach to Beijing, Biden used his first three weeks in the White House to rebuild those relationships as the basis for a broader approach.

Another US official said that Biden found that Trump's approach, which sought intense strategic competition toward China, was "feasible," and that there was a need to follow that approach in all aspects of bilateral relations and with all US power tools.

On the other hand, the official said that China took advantage of Trump's distancing from partners and his chaotic application of policies.

Biden's invitation to Xi came on the same day that Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States held her first publicly recognized official meeting with State Department officials under the new Biden administration.

The phone call between the American and Chinese presidents came hours after a visit by Biden to the Pentagon, during which he announced that he had formed a working group in the ministry in charge of the China file, and that he had ordered a review of the military's strategic approach to the risks posed by Beijing.

During his first visit to the US Department of Defense since his arrival at the White House, Biden announced the formation of a working group within the Ministry of Defense to develop a strategy towards China, which the United States considers its first strategic opponent.

Biden said, in a speech to the US military, that "this task force will work quickly, to allow us to decide on a firm approach on issues related to China."

The US President added that "the matter will require a full governmental effort, bipartisan cooperation in Congress, and strong alliances and partnerships," stressing that "in this way we can respond to the challenges that China poses."

This working group consists of 15 civilian and military advisers, and will have four months to present its recommendations to the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and will be chaired by Biden's former diplomatic advisor who specializes in China, Eli Ratner.

The goal is to define the necessary military position in the Pacific Ocean, to confront Beijing's regional ambitions, and to develop cooperation with allies, but also to determine the type of relations the United States wishes to establish with the Chinese army, or even the types of weapons that can or cannot be developed.

Biden, however, reiterated that he wanted to prioritize diplomacy in dealing with US opponents, and said, "I will never hesitate to use force to defend the vital interests of the American people and our allies when necessary."

But he added, "I believe that force should be the last tool, not the first, for any solution."

Washington is concerned about Beijing's incursions into Japanese waters

The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, expressed to his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, his "concern" about China's incursions into Japanese waters.

Blinken confirmed again in a phone call, the day before yesterday, with Motegi that the defense treaty signed between Washington and Tokyo includes the Senkaku Archipelago, according to US State Department spokesman Ned Price.

The new US government issued several warnings to Beijing about its expansion in the China Sea, and last month President Joe Biden assured the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, the "firm commitment of the United States" to protect Japan, including the Senkaku Archipelago, which China calls the Diaoyu and claims it. .

The US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, said that China is "the most difficult and complex problem" for the United States, because Washington wants to deter Beijing militarily, but it wants to cooperate with China economically.

Austin is supposed to announce his trip abroad program in the coming months, and it is likely that this will be the first of these visits to Asia.

Without announcing a decision on the possibility of keeping US forces in Afghanistan after the beginning of May, the deadline agreed upon between the previous US administration and the "Taliban", Biden affirmed his desire to "put an end in a responsible manner to the wars that lasted for a very long time."

Washington - AFP

Biden asserts that the use of force must be the "last tool" for a solution.

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