Page 5 - Antony Blinken

Blinken to meet Chinese counterpart in Beijing, discuss complex issues

Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea remain flashpoints, while the US is eager to see more progress on the curbing of China's supply of the chemicals to used to make fentanyl

Blinken in Shanghai; begins contentious talks with Chinese officials

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by talking with local government officials in Shanghai. Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jining, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai. He also planned to speak to students and business leaders before heading to Beijing by train for what are expected to be contentious talks with national officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday shortly before President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger the Chinese, including $8 billion to counter China's growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform. China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan, the self-governing island that it regards as a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a ...

Blinken begins China visit as tensions rise over new US foreign aid bill

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has begun a critical trip to China armed with a strengthened diplomatic hand following Senate approval of a foreign aid package that will provide billions of dollars in assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform - all areas of contention between Washington and Beijing. Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday just hours after the Senate vote on the long-stalled legislation and shortly before President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law to demonstrate U.S. resolve in defending its allies and partners. Passage of the bill will add further complications to an already complex relationship that has been strained by disagreements over numerous global and regional disputes. Still, the fact that Blinken is making the trip shortly after a conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a .

Blinken's visit to China: Ukraine, Mideast tensions to be key discussions

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is starting three days of talks with senior Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing this week with US-China ties at a critical point over numerous global disputes. The mere fact that Blinken is making the trip shortly after a conversation between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the US and Chinese defense chiefs might be seen by some as encouraging, but ties between Washington and Beijing are tense and the rifts are growing wider. From Russia and Ukraine to Israel, Iran and the broader Middle East as well as Indo-Pacific and trade issues, the US and China are on a series of collision courses that have sparked fears about military and strategic security as well as international economic stability. Blinken will raise clearly and candidly our concerns during the talks starting Wednesday, a senior State Department official said. Here's a look at some of

Iran-Israel conflict: Blinken calls Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi FMs

: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday reached out over phone to the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had calls with his Saudi and Israeli counterparts, amid signs of an escalating crisis in the Middle East following Iran's strikes on Israel. Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, which Tehran said was in response to the April 1 strike on its consulate in Syria. Almost all Iranian drones and missiles were shot down by Israeli, US and allied forces before they reached their targets. The diplomatic overdrive to fight the crisis came soon after US President Joe Biden had a conference call with G-7 leaders and had separate telephonic conversations with King Abdullah of Jordan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. In all the calls, the American leadership emphasised on the need to avoid further escalation in the region and reaffirmed America's ironclad commitment to the security of ...

Israeli assault on Gaza's Rafah not needed to defeat Hamas, says Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday a major Israeli ground assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah would be a mistake and unnecessary to defeating Hamas, underscoring the further souring of relations between the United States and Israel. Blinken, on his sixth urgent Mideast mission since the war began, spoke after huddling with top Arab diplomats in Cairo for discussions over efforts for a cease-fire and over ideas for Gaza's post-conflict future. He said an immediate, sustained ceasefire with the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas was urgently needed and that gaps were narrowing in indirect negotiations that US, Egypt and Qatar have spent weeks mediating. Blinken heads to Israel on Friday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet. The growing disagreements between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden over the prosecution of the war will likely overshadow the talks particularly over Netanyahu's determination to launch a ground assault on ..

Gaza's Shifa hospital a war zone as Antony Blinken meets Sisi in Cair

The main sticking point remains that Hamas says it will release hostages only as part of an agreement that would end the war, while Israel says it will discuss only a temporary pause

Blinken to highlight support for Philippines as it clashes with China

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will underscore Washington's ironclad commitment to its alliance with the Philippines on Tuesday, as clashes between Chinese and Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea turn more hostile, the U.S. State Department said. Blinken, the latest high-level official to visit the U.S. treaty ally, met his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo Tuesday, before planned meetings with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials in Manila. Next month, President Joe Biden will host Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a White House summit amid growing concerns over increasingly aggressive Chinese actions in the South China Sea and North Korea's nuclear program. The Chinese coast guard blocked and used water cannons against Philippine vessels in a confrontation two weeks ago that slightly injured a Filipino admiral and four of his sailors near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal. The March 5 faceoff in the high seas also

US pledges additional $100M to deploy multinational force for Haiti

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday announced an additional USD 100 million to finance the deployment of a multinational force mission to Haiti following a meeting with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica to halt the country's violent crisis. Blinken also announced another USD 33 million in humanitarian aid and the creation of a joint proposal agreed on by Caribbean leaders and Haitian stakeholders that would expedite the creation of a presidential college. He said the college would take concrete steps he did not identify to meet the needs of Haitian people and enable the pending deployment of the multinational force to be led by Kenya. The joint proposal has the backing of members of Caricom, a regional trade bloc that held Monday's urgent meeting. I think we can all agree: Haiti is on the brink of disaster, said Guyanese President Irfaan Ali. We must take quick and decisive action. He said that he is very confident that we have found commonality to support what he described

US govt restores Trump's policy on illegitimacy of Israeli settlements

The Biden administration on Friday restored a US legal finding dating back nearly 50 years that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegitimate under international law. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US believes settlements are inconsistent with Israel's obligations, reversing a determination made by his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, in the Biden administration's latest shift away from the pro-Israel policies pursued by former President Donald Trump. Blinken's comments came in response to a reporter's question about an announcement that Israel would build more than 3,300 new homes in West Bank settlements as a riposte to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack. It wasn't clear why Blinken chose this moment, more than three years into his tenure, to reverse Pompeo's decision. But it came at a time of growing US-Israeli tensions over the war in Gaza, with the latest settlement announcement only adding to the strain. It also came as the United Nations'

EAM Jaishankar holds meetings with US, UK counterparts in Germany

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation as well as those of key global and regional concern with prominent leaders, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart David Cameron here in Germany. The meetings took place on the sidelines of the prestigious Munich Security Conference, in its 60th edition, which is the world's leading forum for debate on international security. The Indian minister is to participate in a panel discussion on Growing the Pie: Seizing Shared Opportunities,' which is also to be addressed by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, and US Secretary of State Blinken on Saturday. Taking to social media platform X, Jaishankar said his meeting with Blinken focussed on key bilateral issues as well as the situation in West Asia, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific. Great to meet my friend US @SecBlinken this afternoon on #MSC2024 sidelines. Our talk centered on the situation in West .

Toll from Israeli army action in Gaza is still 'too high': Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the toll from Israel's military offensive on Gaza's civilians remains "too high". Blinken made the comments Wednesday as he was in the region seeking to broker a cease-fire that would pause the fighting. Blinken said the Israeli offensive, launched in response to a deadly Hamas cross-border attack on Oct. 7, is "fully justified". But he expressed concern about the effects of the offensive on Gaza civilians. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting, and the offensive has displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and led to a humanitarian crisis. As I told the prime minister and other Israeli officials, the daily toll that its military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high, Blinken said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas' terms for a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement, vowing to continue the war until absolute victory and dismissing any ...

Blinken to brief Israeli leaders on ceasefire, hostage talks as war rages

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to meet Israeli leaders on Wednesday as Hamas suggested it was open to a new ceasefire and hostage release deal, but both sides remain dug in on thus far elusive goals as the war enters its fifth month. The deadliest round of fighting in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, levelled entire neighbourhoods, driven the vast majority of Gaza's population from their homes, and pushed a quarter of the population to starvation. Iran-backed militant groups across the region have conducted attacks, mostly on US and Israeli targets, in solidarity with the Palestinians, drawing reprisals as the risk of a wider conflict grows. Israel remains deeply shaken by Hamas' Oct 7 attack, in which militants burst through the country's vaunted defenses and rampaged across southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting some 250, around half of whom remain in captivity in Gaza. The Unit

Blinken meets Saudi crown prince amid heightened West Asia tensions

Blinken is also set to visit Egypt, Qatar and Israel this week and push to advance the Egyptian- and Qatari-mediated conversations with Hamas to achieve a hostage deal

Blinken heads to Middle East to hold negotiations on hostages, Gaza aid

Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank from February 4-8. It is his fifth trip to the region since the Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7

US aims to use Israel-Hamas deal to open more lasting regional peace talks

The senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken recently to McGurk and Burns about the talks

US Secretary of State Blinken congratulates India on its 75th Republic Day

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday congratulated the people of India on the country's 75th Republic Day and hoped to deepen the "vibrant people-to-people ties between our nations". In a statement, he said the past year has been marked by important milestones in "our Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership, including our cooperation throughout India's successful G20 Presidency and at the G20 Leaders' Summit". "In the year ahead, we look forward to further deepening the vibrant people-to-people ties between our countries and advancing our ambitious agenda for cooperation on our most vital priorities," he said. The US secretary of state said President Joe Biden has termed the United States' relationship with India "one of the most consequential in the world". "On behalf of the United States of America, I congratulate the people of India on India's Republic Day. The Constitution of India continues to provide an enduring framework for the world's largest democracy and

Blinken to visit Africa as crises continue to vex US foreign policy

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to visit four African countries as the Biden administration tries to keep its eyes on all corners of the world while being consumed by crises in Ukraine, the Mideast and the Red Sea. The State Department announced on Thursday that Blinken will go to Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola starting Sunday for talks focused on regional security, conflict prevention, democracy promotion and trade. Nigeria is West Africa's regional heavyweight and plays a major role in security issues, especially those involving Islamic extremist violence in the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert. The trip will be his third overseas mission in the new year. He returned from a Gaza-focused, weeklong 10-nation trip to the Middle East last Thursday and a three-day trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday. Blinken's Africa trip comes as the United States is increasingly nervous about its relationships on the continent

US in demand, says Blinken as he mourns 'gutwrenching' scenes in Gaza

President Joe Biden's administration wanted to address could be tackled in isolation, echoing comments on Tuesday by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who called for greater global cooperation

India an extraordinary success story: US Secretary of State Blinken

Describing India as an "extraordinary success story", US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said the policies and programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been very beneficial to the people of India. Speaking here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024, he also said US President Joe Biden and Modi enjoy excellent relations and their conversations cover all aspects, including US-India relations. Hailing the expansion of bilateral ties between the two countries, Blinken said the US and India are always in constant conversations and those cover all aspects, including on democracy and fundamental rights. "It's part of very sustained and very real conversation we have always had," he said. He was replying to a question on whether the rise of Hindu nationalism concerns India despite the country's robust economic growth and infrastructure building under the Modi regime.