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☆ US must push China to be honest about COVID origins, US envoy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns on Monday said Washington must push Beijing to be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Burns' comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment. Four other U.S. agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that COVID-19 was likely the result of natural transmission, while two are undecided, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China must be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. ambassador to China said on Monday, after reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The department made its judgment with "low confidence" in a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress, the Journal said, citing people who had read the intelligence report. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday there were a "variety of views in the intelligence community" on the pandemic's origins. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

☆ How Biden's wartime visit to Kyiv came together
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden's decision to make a risky wartime visit to Kyiv took root after a similarly clandestine mission just two months ago — when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to Washington and addressed a joint meeting of Congress, according to two sources familiar with the matter. But privately, among a small universe of senior officials, the thinking was that this might be the moment to realize a long-held hope among some officials for an even more potent demonstration of U.S. solidarity: having Biden visit Ukraine. "Discussions about possibly going have been underway for months and really accelerated in recent weeks," a senior administration official said. First lady Jill Biden made a surprise Mother's Day visit to western Ukraine, spending two hours in the border town of Uzhhorod to meet first lady Olena Zelenska. But the level of security needed for the president of the U.S. had long been considered incompatible.

☆ U.S., India partnership targets arms and AI to compete with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The White House is launching a partnership with India on Tuesday that President Joe Biden hopes will help the countries compete against China on military equipment, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI). Yet the White House faces an uphill battle on each front, including U.S. restrictions on military technology transfer and visas for immigrant workers, along with India's longstanding dependence on Moscow for military hardware, issues it hopes to now address. But Washington has held its tongue, nudging the country on Russia while condoning India's more hawkish stance on China. General Electric Co (GE.N), meanwhile, is asking the U.S. government for permission to produce jet engines with India that would power aircraft operated and produced by India, according to the White House, which says a review is underway. Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Sanders, Josie Kao and Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Top Biden aide planning Israel trip as hard-right coalition takes power -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Jeff Mason | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is planning a trip to Israel this month after the formation of a new government topped by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a White House official said on Monday. The meetings in Israel will come as Netanyahu's new alliance with ultra-nationalists has worried White House officials about the prospects for worsening Israel's relations with Palestinians. On Monday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants during clashes near the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian sources said. Biden is also working to find common ground with the new Israeli government on an approach to stalled Iranian nuclear talks and has been re-evaluating Washington's alliance with Saudi Arabia. Dates for Sullivan's meetings have not been set yet, said the administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was in China's interest to make its "best efforts" to induce North Korea to denuclearise, he said. North Korea's tests overshadowed multiple gatherings this month of international leaders, including the Group of 20 conference in Bali, where Yoon pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations. China is South Korea's largest trading partner, as well as a close partner of North Korea. South Korea, Japan, and the United States have agreed to share real time information for tracking North Korean ballistic missile tests. Now Japan faced more and more threats from North Korea’s missile programme, including tests that overfly Japanese islands, Yoon said.

☆ U.S. criticizes China's zero Covid strategy, says Beijing needs to boost vaccination among elderly
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The White House on Monday criticized Beijing's zero Covid strategy as ineffective and said the Chinese people have a right to peacefully protest. "We've said that zero COVID is not a policy we pursuing here in the United States," the NSC spokesperson said. Vaccination rates among the elderly, one of the groups most vulnerable to Covid, are low in China compared to other countries. Dr. Ashish Jha, head of the White House Covid task force, said China should focus on making sure the elderly get vaccinated. Lockdowns and zero COVID is going to be very difficult to sustain," Jha told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

Russia launched an intense wave of airstrikes on cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, forcing widespread blackouts and hitting residential buildings in the capital, Kyiv. The barrage targeted key cities from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the northeast, pounding energy infrastructure and knocking out power to vast areas in one of the largest coordinated attacks of the war. "85 missile strikes were fired at Ukraine, at our cities, mostly at energy infrastructure. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the strikes should put an end to pressure for peace talks with Russia. While the retaking of Kherson sparked jubilation in Ukraine, officials have cautioned that the conflict is far from over and that Putin could retaliate for the humiliation of his forces' retreat in the south.

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was transferred last week from a detention center outside the Russian capital and is on her way to a penal colony, her legal team said on Wednesday. She was sentenced on Aug. 4 to nine years in a penal colony on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs. Griner had pleaded guilty but said she had made an "honest mistake" and had not meant to break the law. The souring of ties between Russia and the West has complicated the talks to secure Griner's release. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan, in an earlier statement, described Griner's conditions as "intolerable" and the trial she had to go through as "another sham judicial proceeding."

☆ Biden's national security advisor held secret talks with Russia warning against using nukes in Ukraine: WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biden's National Security Advisor held talks with Kremlin officials, per The Wall Street Journal. Jake Sullivan warned Russia against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, its report said. Concerns are growing that Russia could use nuclear weapons as it struggles on the battlefield. The talks came amid concerns that Russia could resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, following a series of setbacks on the battlefield. The New York Times reported last week that Russian military leaders had discussed using them.

☆ Biden's national security plan identifies Russia as imminent danger, China as long-term threat
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden released his first national security strategy plan on Wednesday, outlining how the United States would "effectively compete" with China in the coming years, "while constraining a dangerous Russia." "Russia and [China] pose different challenges," wrote Biden. In light of America's urgent and ongoing involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine, Biden's strategy for countering Russia struck a pragmatic note. Damage to the Russian military caused by the protracted conflict "will likely increase Moscow's reliance on nuclear weapons in its military planning," Biden wrote. And while Russia poses a regional threat to Europe and a threat to global markets, wrote Biden, the Kremlin "lacks the across the spectrum capabilities of the PRC."

☆ Biden escalates feud with Saudi Arabia, warning of 'consequences' for cutting oil production in coordination with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biden made an nonspecific threat to Saudi Arabia after its decision to cut oil output. The OPEC+ group includes Saudi Arabia and Russia — the two biggest oil producers after the US itself — as well as numerous other oil-producing countries. Biden spoke warned Saudi Arabia in an interview with CNN on Tuesday: "There's going to be some consequences for what they've done, with Russia." US officials warned Saudi Arabia that it would be seen as taking Russia's side if OPEC+ cut its production, but Saudi Arabia dismissed the warnings and proceeded, The Wall Street Journal reported. Biden's hardened stance on Saudi Arabia is a big shift from his repeated engagement with the Kingdom and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

☆ Biden's national security plan aims at China, Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting of the Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The White House rolled out a long-delayed national security strategy on Wednesday that seeks to contain China's rise while reemphasizing the importance of working with allies to tackle challenges confronting democratic nations. The 48-page document, which was delayed by the Ukraine crisis, includes no major shifts in thinking and introduces no major new doctrines for Biden's foreign policy. Even after the Russian invasion, China represents the most consequential challenge to the global order, it states. Sullivan said the Ukraine crisis did delay but did not "fundamentally alter" Biden's approach to foreign policy.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterU.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have underscored this year that the United States does not support Taiwan independence. "It is incoherent to argue that America's Taiwan policy has not changed while also claiming that the U.S. has a commitment to fight for Taiwan and that Taiwan makes its own judgments about independence," said Craig Singleton, a China policy expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. read more"The President directly affirmed the United States' longstanding one China policy," said Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for Biden's National Security Council. 'PRECISION OF LANGUAGE'Taiwan's Foreign Ministry responded to Biden's remarks by expressing its "sincere appreciation" for his staunch support of the island. "One issue where the precision of language is paramount is the discourse on our Taiwan policy," Blanchette said.

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