INTERNATIONAL: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday 26th April he will address in the coming weeks a U.S. national security strategy to deal with the emergence of China as a great power.
"I will have an opportunity, I think, very soon in the coming weeks to speak publicly and in some detail about the about the strategy" Blinken said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney noted the latest defense authorization act requires the president to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the threat China poses to the global order and asked Blinken about the military agreement recently signed by the Solomon Islands and China.
"That is alarming," Romney said.
Blinken said the State Department sent a high-level delegation to the Solomon Islands, where it plans to open an embassy to have a day in, day out presence there.
"We share the concern about this agreement," Blinken said. The U.S. delegation met with the islands' prime minister, who vowed there would be no Chinese military base on the island, he said.
"We will be watching that very, very closely in the weeks and months ahead," Blinken said.
REPUBLICAN SENATOR MITT ROMNEY, SAID:
''I was concerned with the report about the Salomon Islands entering into a military agreement with China. That is alarming. I wonder if you had perspective on that, whether you know whether there is a military component, is it a military agreement but will there be potentially military presence in the Salomon Islands by the Chinese?''
"First, with regard to the strategy. We very much agree with you and I will have an opportunity, I think, very soon in the coming weeks to speak publicly and in some detail about the about the strategy. We appreciate the work that, in many ways, Congress has done to give us some of the tools that we need to make that strategy effective. But I look forward to having an opportunity to lay that out in some detail and continuing to refine it with you and others. With regard to the Solomon Islands, yes, we share the concern about this agreement. We send a very high level delegation to the Solomons just a few days ago. Our lead China expert at the White House, Kurt Campbell, along with the assistant secretary for the region, Dan Kryten Brink, led a delegation to the Solomon Islands. I had previously announced some months ago that we intend to open an embassy there that we're moving forward on. We want to have day in, day out presence there. We're moving forward on that. The delegation met with the Prime Minister [Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare]. He vowed publicly as well as privately, that there would be no Chinese military base, no long-term presence, no power projection capability. We will be watching that very, very closely in the weeks and months ahead."
