China might increase the pressure, officials warn
DOUBLE AGENDA: The National Security Bureau said Beijing is trying to defeat containment by Washington, but without giving up its opportunities to collaborate
By Wu Su-wei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
China might ratchet up pressure on Taiwan as the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial nears, national security officials warned, adding that Beijing’s hegemonic ambitions pose a threat to regional stability.
The National Security Bureau made the remarks in a report it sent to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee ahead of a session scheduled for tomorrow.
As Adverse Reactions Grow, China’s Vaccine Diplomacy Should Raise International Alarm
China has been touting the success of its COVID-19 vaccines at home and abroad, luring a number of countries into purchasing Sinovac and Sinopharm, two front-runner Chinese vaccines. Moreover, whenever a foreign sale is made, Chinese authorities immediately cite it as proof of popularity and effectiveness in the propaganda it uses inside China.
Such propaganda has indeed achieved a certain amount of success both inside the country and in the international community.
However, recent deaths and the low protection rate of Chinese-made vaccines revealed by clinical trials and real-life cases, should put an end to that self-proclaimed “success.”
Vaccine diplomacy in the MENA region
April 14, 2021 Share
Vaccine diplomacy, or the use of vaccine supplies as a tool of soft power projection, has entered the political dictionary. In a world where COVID-19 has been taking a terrifying human and financial toll, vaccine supplies promise relief and interact with pre-existing politics and foreign policy priorities. China and Russia have sought to enhance their influence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with a number of high-profile vaccine deals. This has drawn the ire of a beleaguered European Union, whose self-professed goal is to become a more geopolitical union even while its domestic vaccination effort lags behind the U.S. and the U.K.
Biden needs to scrap Xi infatuation
By Joseph
Bosco
US President Joe Biden’s first news conference last month offered reassuring and concerning insights regarding his administration’s approach to China.
Biden did not mention the contentious meeting in Alaska where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confronted China’s top two foreign policy officials.
The Americans implicitly affirmed the administration of former US president Donald Trump’s direct pushback against communist China’s repressive domestic governance and aggressive international behavior. Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission Director Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) had explicitly demanded a return to the policies of former US presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
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