On Sunday, CBS News aired its ‘60 Minutes’ interview with United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Speaking to Norah O’Donnell, Blinken defended the Biden administration’s positions on key foreign policy issues regarding China, Afghanistan, and Russia.
China
The majority of the interview focused on how the Biden administration will deal with China’s rise, both militarily and economically. The interview began with Blinken saying that China, today, has the military, economic, and diplomatic capacity to “challenge the global rules-based order.” He also added that, while it is not seeking to contain China, the US will stand up to “anyone who poses a challenge to that order.”
When asked about China’s military aggression, Blinken stated that over the last several years China has been “acting more repressively at home and more aggressively abroad” due to its belief that it “will be the dominant country in the world.” With Chinese fighter jets and warships increasing their assertiveness in the western Pacific, which also has a US presence, a clash between both sides cannot be ruled out. However, the Secretary said that such a scenario is “profoundly against the interests of both China and the United States.”
Blinken also described Chinese actions against Uyghurs in Xinjiang as “genocide.” He said that Uyghurs were being put into “concentration camps, reeducation camps, internment camps.” He further said that the US does not see the Chinese claim of a terrorist threat coming from a million people. Two months ago, in Alaska, Blinken had confronted the Chinese delegation led by top diplomat Yang Jiechi about the issue, which resulted in a heated exchange between both sides. Jiechi responded by saying that the US “does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.”
In this respect, O’Donnell asked Blinken: If Xinjiang isn’t a red line with China, then what is? The US does not have the “luxury of not dealing with China.” Blinken said. “There are real complexities to the relationship, whether it’s the adversarial piece, whether it’s the competitive piece, whether it’s the cooperative piece.”
Regarding the imposition of tariffs on China by former US President Donald Trump based on the country’s theft of US intellectual property, Blinken made it clear that the Chinese actions were unfair and “adversarial.” “This can’t stand, and it won’t stand,” the Secretary stressed, noting that Biden had conveyed this message to Chinse President Xi Jinping during their first conversation as well.
When asked about China’s GDP overtaking that of the US and becoming the wealthiest country, Blinken said: “A lot depends on how it uses that wealth. It has an ageing population. It has significant environmental problems. And so on.” Blinken also highlighted the importance of harnessing the potential of human resources when it came to development and said that the US is “in a much better place to maximise that” potential than any country on Earth.
Afghanistan
When quizzed about US preparedness for a worst-case scenario in Afghanistan, where the Taliban takes over, Blinken cautioned that the US should be prepared for every scenario. “We have been engaged in Afghanistan for 20 years, and we sometimes forget why we went there in the first place, and that was to deal with the people who attacked us on 9/11. And we did,” he said.
Blinken was also asked about Biden’s position regarding the closure of Guantanamo Bay. He said that it is “certainly a goal” and the administration will bring some focus to the issue in the months ahead.
Immigration Reform
On the issue of the recent surge in undocumented immigrants at the border, which is the highest in 20 years, Blinken stated that it was because the current administration “inherited a totally broken system,” referring to Trump’s policies. Blinken added: “We have to understand what is motivating so many people to do this. And it is usually desperation.” The secretary also said that the message of the Biden administration regarding immigration was clear - “Don’t come. The border is not open. You won’t get in.” However, when it came to children, Blinken said: “Children are the one exception, because [it is the] right thing to do.”
Russia
The interview concluded with O’Donnell asking Blinken about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions in Ukraine. “There are more forces amassed on the border with Ukraine than any time since 2014, when Russia actually invaded,” Blinken said. “I can’t tell you that we know Mr. Putin’s intentions. There are any number of things that he could do [or] choose not to do.” He also mentioned that the US was watching Russia’s decision to pull back some of its troops along the Ukraine border “very carefully.”
SUMMARY: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s ‘60 Minutes’ Interview
During the interview, Blinken discussed the Biden administration's position on issues regarding China, Afghanistan, Russia, and immigration reform.
May 3, 2021
SOURCE: CBS