U.S.: “Both leaders might hold talks within weeks”… Nervous war expected over the North Korean nuclear-Taiwan issue
China pushes forward to expand BRICS once morest IPEF
After US President Joe Biden’s trip to Korea and Japan to begin the Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China in earnest, he is pushing for a US-China summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (pictured). At this summit, which will be the fifth summit since Biden’s inauguration, a fierce battle is expected over key issues such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to exclude China from the global supply chain, North Korea’s nuclear program, and Taiwan.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on the 19th (local time) that “it wouldn’t be surprising if President Biden had a phone call with President Xi in the next few weeks.” Sullivan appears to have coordinated the U.S.-China summit in a phone call the day before with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and head of the Central Foreign Affairs Work Committee.
A phone call between President Biden and President Xi will be the first meeting following a tense battle of nerves over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March. At this meeting, the US policy to contain China, such as the launch of the IPEF, is expected to be the biggest issue. Xi is expected to protest strongly that attempts to exclude China from the supply chain will not be successful. In a phone call with Sullivan’s aide, Yang warned that “any attempt to engage factions to engage in division and confrontation cannot materialize.”
The North Korean nuclear issue and the Taiwan issue are also key issues. “We have communicated very directly to China that it will respond firmly to North Korean provocations,” Sullivan said. Regarding the Taiwan issue, he sent a warning message saying, “China is raising tensions on the Taiwan issue.”
As the U.S. expanded its checks on China centered on IPEF, the Quad with the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India, and AUKUS with the U.S., U.K. and Australia, China responded by expanding the BRICS. placed BRICS is an economic cooperation organization in which China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa participate. At the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor for Foreign Affairs, said, “We need to consider using the ‘BRICS Plus’ model to develop cooperation in a wider scope and in a wider area.” We need to make a greater contribution to world peace and development by strengthening cooperation,” he said.
Washington = Byung-ki Moon, Correspondent [email protected]
