China's statements before and during Russia's invasion of Ukraine have clarified for American and European officials the difficulties of engaging with Beijing. President Vladimir V. Putin met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on February 4, two weeks before the invasion, as their two governments issued a 5,000 word statement announcing a no limits partnership that will oppose the international diplomatic and economic systems overseen by the United States and its allies. Since the war began, the Chinese government has given strong diplomatic support to Russia by reiterating Mr. Putin's criticism of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories that undermine the United States and Ukraine.
In his speech at George Washington University on the theme Invest, Align and Compete, Mr. Blinken spoke about human rights abuses, repression of ethnic minorities and suppression of free speech and assembly in the regions of Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. In recent years, those issues have resulted in greater animus toward China among Democratic and Republican politicians and policymakers. He said we ll continue to raise these issues and call for change.
Mr. Blinken reiterated the longstanding U.S. policy on Taiwan despite remarks by President Biden in Tokyo on Monday that the United States had a commitment to defend Taiwan if China attacks the self-governing democratic island. The U.S. government has maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan, leaving unsaid whether it would defend the island from China. Mr. Blinken said that it was China's recent actions toward Taiwan - trying to sever the island's diplomatic and international ties and sending fighter jets over the area that were deeply destabilizing. Despite rising concerns, the United States was not seeking a new Cold War, and would not try to isolate China, the world's second largest economy. He said that Mr. Biden and his national security aides have made a point that there are areas of cooperation with China, including climate change, health security and the global economy, as well as since Mr. Biden's presidential campaign of 2020.
Mr. Blinken credited China's growth to the talent and hard work of the Chinese people, as well as the stability and opportunity of the rules on global trade and diplomacy created and shaped by the United States in what Washington calls international order. He said that no country on earth has benefited more from that than China. Beijing is undermining the power of its power to strengthen and revitalize the laws, agreements, principles and institutions that enabled its success, rather than using its power to strengthen and revitalize them.