4/26/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 26, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 26, 2021

BIDEN AND THE WESTERN BALKANS

Apr. 26 - ...​China poses an even greater challenge to Western interests in the Balkans. Unlike Russia, which solely acts as a spoiler power obstructing the West, China is a rising power offering a strategic vision for Eurasia with its Belt and Road Initiative. In the past decade, Chinese firms invested $2.4 billion in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. At the same time, Beijing has provided $6.8 billion in infrastructure loans. In Serbia, China is the third-largest foreign direct investor (accounting for 6.61 percent of all net foreign direct investments) after the European Union (72.27 percent) and Russia (11.21 percent). In Montenegro, China owns 25 percent of the country’s public debt. Beijing is supplying Belgrade with drones. The recent visit by Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe to Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Hungary suggests that China wants to expand its military ties with regional powers. On the vaccination front, to Serbia alone China supplied 1 million doses of the Chinese-produced Sinopharm vaccine, and the supply of an additional 2 million doses has also been agreed. However, China is also bringing highly questionable labor and environmental standards to the region.

​The United States has already shown itself capable of pushing back against Russia and China in the Balkans, even under Trump...     quoted from


Chinese vessels were captured moored at the disputed Whitsun Reef in South China Sea
'China is militarising ports across our region': Dutton's stern warning for Australia


Apr. 26 - Defence Minister Peter Dutton has issued a stern warning for Australians this Anzac Day, saying it's time the Defence Force turned its attention to nearer shores amid a growing threat from China.

Speaking to Weekend Today this morning, Mr Dutton paid tribute to the "amazing effort" of the tens of thousands of Australians and other Allied service personnel who had fought in the Middle East over the past two decades, saying they had saved Australia and other nations from terror attacks.

However, with the remaining 80 ADF personnel set to return from service in Afghanistan by September, Mr Dutton said that Australia must now focus on closer threats to its national security.,,     (more evidences)


..,Over the past year, China has slapped trade sanctions on a range of Australian exports, with billions of dollars wiped, after Australia called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and the Federal Government introduced foreign interference legislation.

​The recently-installed defence minister's comments today will be taken as further indication of rising tensions, as the federal government refuses to back down.   quoted from

Related Articles:
Philippines summons Chinese ambassador over reef dispute

'Australia not targeting China' after Victorian trade deal scrapped


Anzac Day marches get underway amid COVID-19 restrictions


President Biden made one of the biggest commitments at the summit, promising to reduce US emissions by half before the year 2030.
What happened at Biden’s global climate summit?

Date published on Apr. 26, 2021
...​So what comes next?
  • Now, countries are going to work to implement the things they promised.

Some countries, particularly those in the European Union, have already made significant strides toward reducing their emissions and have taken additional steps to do more.

Other countries, like China and Russia, have put out very vague, more easily achieved goals in what may be an effort to not fall short of their stated aims.

​In November, leaders from those countries that were a part of the Paris Agreement will set official emission targets for the next
decade at a climate conference in Scotland.     quoted from

MONDAY
April 26, 2021

4/24/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 24 , 2021

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

APRIL 23, 2021 | PART OF WHITE HOUSE HOSTS VIRTUAL LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE, DAY 2
White House Hosts Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, Day 2, Part 1
The White House hosts a virtual summit on climate change with world leaders.

Biden’s Anti-China Ambitions
Like Trump, Joe Biden is committed to a distinctly anti-China global strategy rooted in fears of American decline.

Apr. 24 - ​Like his immediate predecessor, Joe Biden is committed to a distinctly anti-China global strategy and has sworn that China will not “become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world…on my watch.” In the topsy-turvy universe created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it was, however, Jamie Dimon, the CEO and chairman of JP Morgan Chase, a banking giant with assets of $3.4 trillion, who spoke truth to Biden on the subject.


While predicting an immediate boom in the US economy “that could easily run into 2023,” Dimon had grimmer news on the future as well. “China’s leaders believe that America is in decline,” he wrote in his annual letter to the company’s shareholders. While the United States had faced tough times in the past, he added, today “the Chinese see an America that is losing ground in technology, infrastructure, and education—a nation torn and crippled by politics, as well as racial and income inequality—and a country unable to coordinate government policies (fiscal, monetary, industrial, regulatory) in any coherent way to accomplish national goals.” He was forthright enough to say, “Unfortunately, recently, there is a lot of truth to this.”

As for China, Dimon could also have added, its government possesses at least two powerful levers in areas where the United States is likely to prove vulnerable: dominant control of container ports worldwide and the supplies of rare earth metals critical not just to the information-technology sector but also to the production of electric and hybrid cars, jet fighters, and missile guidance systems. And that’s only a partial list of the areas where China is poised to become dominant in the foreseeable future. Here’s a likely scenario.

​THE DIGITAL YUAN VERSUS THE (MISSING) DIGITAL DOLLAR...     more


APRIL 23, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland joined Press Secretary Jen Psaki at the White House to emphasis the administration’s commitment to addressing climate change. The first Native American cabinet member said, “I believe that a clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States.” She responded to questions about a pause in new oil and gas permitting, fracking, federal assistance for under-served communities and preserving America’s National Parks. Ms. Psaki also announced President Biden’s first planned international trip, which he’ll take in June to Great Britain and Belgium. She answered a variety of questions from reporters on the climate summit, the American Jobs Plan, the potential for a White House declaration on Armenian genocide, COVID-19 vaccine distribution and the president’s plans for future travel. 

US Says China 'Not Doing Enough' on Climate

Apr. 24, TEHRAN (FNA)- Special Climate Envoy John Kerry stated Friday night that China isn’t doing enough on climate change after the country said at a White House climate summit this week that it would try to reduce its coal use starting in a few years.

After acknowledging some of the promises Chinese President Xi Jinping made, Kerry argued during a CNN town hall that the country is “not doing enough".


“They have a massive coal dependency. We have to try to get them to move further and we have to also ask China not to be funding the building of new coal-fired power plants in other parts of the world,” he added.

China, during the White House event this week, announced it would “strictly limit” its increase in coal consumption through 2025 and start to “phase it down” starting in 2026. 

Xi also noted that the country plans to “strictly control” coal-fired power plant projects.
However, unlike countries such as the US that will seek to reduce their greenhouse emissions over the course of the next decade, China announced that it expects its emissions to peak in 2030. 

​China is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and the US is the second-largest. 
     source from

4/23/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 23 , 2021

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

Biden-Harris administration: 100-day review of Sanctions policy

​Apr. 24 - ​When the Biden administration took office on 20 January 2021 it had already announced that there would be reviews of how the US deals with international partnerships.

Under the previous administration the US had left the Paris accord on climate change and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Within a day of taking office the new administration set in motion the reversal of both the withdrawal from the Paris agreement and WHO membership.

US secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen has said that one of her top priorities is to review the US use of sanctions as well as those that are currently in place. While the review will clearly take some time, the US cannot sit still awaiting the outcome and so it requires an active sanctions policy.

Burma
While the US had closed its previous Burma sanctions programme, recent events led to the announcement of sanctions and export controls under Executive Order 14014. This is now established and there have been some coordinated listings announced with the UK and EU during the early stages.

China
The US invoked two Chinese-related sanctions programmes in 2020. The Hong Kong autonomy act set out two sets of listings which have menu based prohibitions. The first list is those targeted, while the second list will be made up of financial institutions that are dealing with those on the first list.
The “Communist Chinese Military Companies” (CCMC) sanctions were more problematic for financial services due to the ‘near match’ element that was included in EO 13959. This provision was the subject of general licence 1 which was issued and updated to licence 1A in the early days of the new administration. This extension of the general licence to 27 May can be seen as a tactic to allow time for a full review and for appropriate action to be taken if required.

Iran
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which set out the plan for a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, is a significant agreement signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus the High Representative of the EU, Germany, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Biden administration has said that it is open to discussing the US re-joining, though this will be a problematic area for both the US and Iran to negotiate. The upcoming Iranian elections will add distractions through the middle of 2021.
Recent meetings between participants have been encouraging. If not resolving the differences, at least they have paused the divergence between the parties and JCPOA compliance.

Russia
Russia is a complex area. On one hand the US is likely to look for coordinated international action and this will almost certainly involve the EU, as we have seen with the recent sanctions in response to the Novichok poisoning of Alexei Navalny. This is counterbalanced by the increasing pressure the US is exerting on the Nord Stream 2 project which has joint investment and involvement from leading companies in EU member states (Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands). The US recently imposed additional sanctions on Russian individuals and entities under EO 14024 which shows how the US is leading on additional sanctions. Those invoked under EO 14024 are wide ranging, covering areas such as cyber, election interference and sovereign debt prohibitions.

ICC

This month (April) the US has reversed the sanctions put in place against personnel of the International Criminal Court under EO 13928

On 27 April UK Finance will be hosting a panel of experts to discuss the first 100 days of the Biden/Harris administration, the approach we have seen and what we may expect with regard to the above.


This event is free to attend and registration can be completed via this link.     source from

APRIL 22, 2021
President Biden and Vice President Harris Deliver Remarks at Climate Summit
President Biden delivered opening remarks at a virtual climate summit from the White House with world leaders on Earth Day. The president spoke about the importance of nations working together to address climate change saying the challenge is too big for one country to solve. He also announced the U.S. will aim to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.


Boris Johnson and Joe Biden, on screen, take part in the opening session of the virtual summit on climate change organised by the US President
​Joe Biden's climate change pledge will help to get world moving in right direction – Scotsman comment


When the US President speaks, the words echo all over the world.

Apr. 23 - Joe Biden’s promise that the US will cut carbon emissions by about twice as much as previously planned by the end of this decade is a rallying cry. It will be answered by countries whose governments similarly realise the importance of the fight against climate change, and also by those who understand the value of staying in Washington’s good books.

Boris Johnson has just increased the UK’s target to cut carbon emissions to 78 per cent of 1990 levels by 2035. Would this have happened if the coal-loving, climate change-sceptic Donald Trump was still in the White House and therefore the person to whom the UK would have to go, cap in hand, seeking an all-important post-Brexit trade deal?

Johnson described Biden’s announcement as “game-changing” and spoke of “building back greener” in the wake of the Covid crisis.

Both leaders’ comments are a further signal to the business world – investors in particular – about the direction of travel over what Biden called a “decisive decade” if we are to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
It is clearer than ever what the future is going to be like and there will be much money to be made – and many jobs to be created – for businesses that jump at the array of new opportunities.

​Biden’s focus on climate change – the most pressing issue facing humanity bar none – also means that the United Nations’ Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow later this year could become as important and historic as the one that led to the 2016 Paris Agreement.     source from

APRIL 22, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy joined White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to speak about the Biden administration’s climate initiatives. Ms. McCarthy reiterated President Biden’s goal of cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and discussed how the administration was using an all of government approach to reach this standard. Secretary Kerry talked about his efforts to work with other countries to encourage their efforts on climate change and said he was pleased with the commitments made by China, Russia, India and other nations. Ms. Psaki also answered a variety of questions on climate change, the president’s planned address to Congress, the American Families Plan, and working with Republicans for bipartisan solutions. 

4/22/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 22 , 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Pompeo Touts ‘Toughest' GOP Sanctions Bill on Iran Amid Signs of Tentative Progress at Vienna Talks

Amid ongoing Vienna talks to reactivate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Biden administration has been sending indications to Tehran that it may consider reducing punitive sanctions currently targeting Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Apr. 20 - ...Coming against the backdrop of ongoing Vienna talks between senior diplomats from the US, Iran, Germany, France, Russia, China and the European Union in a bid to chart a manner in which the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) can be fully restored, the bill seeks to forestall a US reentry into the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Amid signs of tentative progress in indirect talks between the US and Iran in Vienna, the proposed legislation would incorporate measures that would require any new deal with Tehran to be ratified by the Senate, while codifying into law sanctions introduced on Iran during the Trump-era.

​Furthermore, the bill would expand sanctions, extending them to the Iran's ballistic missile programme, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed militias elsewhere in the Middle East and a range of Iranian industries...     quoted from
President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to refer to mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as an act of genocide.
​What Joe Biden Has Said About Armenian Genocide

Apr. 22 - President Joe Biden is on the cusp of formally recognizing the Armenian massacre by the Ottoman Empire more than 100 years ago as an act of genocide, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the White House was moving to break with tradition and refer to the massacre as genocide on April 24, the date of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.


However, the news wire reported that the president could back out of the plan if he believes it will damage U.S. relations with Turkey. Ankara is expected to be angered by the move, should it go ahead.

Asked if Biden would call the Armenian massacre an act of genocide in time for the Saturday memorial, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: "I expect we will have more to say about Remembrance Day on Saturday. But I don't have anything to get ahead of that at this point in time."

The reported move to recognize the mass killings as an act of genocide has come after Rep. 
Adam Schiff (D-CA) penned an open letter to the president calling on him to honor his campaign promise.

​"On behalf of hundreds of thousands of Armenian Americans, the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren of genocide survivors, I ask you: Keep that promise," the open letter read. "Recognize the Armenian Genocide." More than 100 lawmakers representing both parties signed the open letter.     more
美拉伙伴“围攻”俄罗斯?普京称对敌对行为将强硬回应 20210421 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 22, 2021

The U.S. Embassy in MoscowUS Embassy in Russia Confirms That Sullivan Has Left the Diplomatic Mission and is On His Way to DC

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on 16 April that the Russian side had recommended that Ambassador Sullivan return to Washington for consultations about the bilateral relationship.


Apr. 22 - US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan has left the diplomatic mission and is on his way to Washington, the US embassy confirmed to RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"We can confirm that Ambassador Sullivan is on his way to Washington, DC," the embassy said.

Sullivan will briefly travel to the United States for a family visit and consultations with the US presidential administration. He is set to return to Moscow in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month, the United States imposed new sanctions on 32 Russian entities and individuals as part of a new round of sanctions for Moscow's alleged cyber attacks and other hostile acts against US interests. The United States also expelled ten Russian diplomats from the country and prohibited US entities from purchasing ruble-based bonds.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned the fresh round of sanctions as running contrary to the interests of the two nations. In response, Russia banned eight US citizens from entering the country, including US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and FBI Director Christopher Wray.     source from

4/21/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 21 , 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a meeting. 
Chinese President Xi to attend online Biden climate summit

Apr. 21 - Chinese President Xi Jinping will take part in President Joe Biden’s climate summit this week, Beijing said on Wednesday, as the world's top polluting nations seek rare common ground despite wider political tensions.

​China and the United States are the biggest emitters of climate-changing carbon pollution.

Biden has invited 40 world leaders including Xi and Russia's Vladimir Putin to the meet starting on Earth Day, meant to mark Washington's return to the front lines of the fight against climate change after former president Donald Trump disengaged from the process.

Xi said in December that China’s emissions would fall by 65% from 2005 levels by 2030.

The virtual summit will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Biden became president.
Xi will give an "important speech" at the meeting, said the Chinese foreign ministry, days after a trip to Shanghai by US climate envoy John Kerry -- the first official from Biden's administration to visit China.

Kerry and Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua had said they were "committed to cooperating" on tackling the climate crisis, even as sky-high tensions remain on multiple other fronts.

Washington and Beijing's pledge to cooperate comes amid acrimony over accusations about China's policies in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uyghurs in its northwestern Xinjiang region -- criticisms Beijing rejects as interference in its domestic affairs.

No global solution on climate change is likely without both the US and China on board, since the world's top two economies together account for nearly half of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions.     source from



A F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF) is seen at an Air Force base in Tainan, Taiwan. Reuters

Two Chinese J-20 'Chengdu' stealth fighter jets perform during a flying display on the first day of a military airshow in Zhuhai, Guangzhou province, China.
Taiwanese defence ministry claims airspace violation by Chinese air force


Apr. 21 - China’s air force allegedly sent 25 fighters and bombers into the Taiwan Strait, according to the Taiwanese ministry of defence. There was no way to independently verify the claim.

According to a statement from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, Beijing deployed 14 J-16 and four J-10 fighters, four H-6K bombers, two Y-8 anti-sub warfare planes and one KJ-500 early warning aircraft into the southwest section of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone Monday.

The ministry said Taiwan’s air force responded by sending patrol aircraft to the area and tracking the Chinese planes with missile defence systems.

The Chinese Defence Ministry said last week that the Liaoning aircraft carrier had carried out exercises near Taiwan recently and the navy is planning more more drills. The People’s Liberation Army also said last week that it monitored the USS John S McCain destroyer as it sailed through the Taiwan Strait.


Washington and Beijing have been issuing warnings to each other regarding Taiwan since President Joe Biden took office in January, adding to tensions that increased steadily during the Trump administration. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China should avoid encroaching on Taiwan, saying Beijing was fomenting tensions in the strait with “aggressive actions.”

The US State Department said in January that Washington had a “rock solid” commitment to Taipei after China flew more than a dozen military aircraft, including the H-6K bombers, into the strait. The bombers are believed to be capable of carrying land-attack cruise missiles.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi used an annual press briefing last month to warn the Biden administration to be careful in its dealings with Taipei.

Mr Wang said the US should stop “crossing lines and playing with fire,” and said there was “no room for compromise or concessions” in Beijing’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan.

​The Communist Party ruling China sees Taiwan as its territory, which must be seized by force if necessary. Taipei rejects the claim, saying Taiwan is already a de facto sovereign nation.     source from
解放军南海演习 美军“秀肌肉”反暴露重大缺陷?20210419 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 20, 2021

H-6K bombers in formation during a military parade in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, July 30, 2017. 
China conducted an aerial bombing drill after the US and Japan put out a statement on Taiwan

Apr. 21 - China conducted a large-scale aerial bombardment exercise over the weekend as tensions escalated over Taiwan, prompted by a joint statement about the island from the United States and Japan.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command, which oversees the Taiwan Strait, deployed dozens of H-6K strategic bombers in a nine-hour live-fire drill, according to state television.

The bombers took off in groups from a military airport in eastern China in combat formations amid low-visibility conditions and headed towards an "unknown shooting range," the CCTV report said.

​During their flights the H-6Ks, which have a maximum load capacity of 15 tonnes, also practised electronic countermeasures with air-defence missile units. Once they reached their target airspace, they dropped free-fall aerial bombs from different altitudes, the report said.     more