US, China Top Diplomats to Meet on High Tensions on Taiwan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as they meet in Bali in July 2022 Stefani Reynolds POOL/AFP/File
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as they meet in Bali in July 2022 Stefani Reynolds POOL/AFP/File
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US, China Top Diplomats to Meet on High Tensions on Taiwan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as they meet in Bali in July 2022 Stefani Reynolds POOL/AFP/File
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as they meet in Bali in July 2022 Stefani Reynolds POOL/AFP/File

The top US and Chinese diplomats meet Friday in New York as soaring tensions show signs of easing, but Beijing issued a new warning against support for Taiwan.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are set to meet on the sidelines of the annual United Nations summit, their first encounter since extensive talks in July in Bali where both sides appeared optimistic for more stability.

One month later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, infuriating Beijing which staged exercises seen as a trial run for an invasion of the self-governing democracy, AFP said.

President Joe Biden in an interview aired Sunday said he was ready to intervene militarily if China uses force, once again deviating from decades of US ambiguity.

In a sign of smoother ties, Wang said he met in New York with US climate envoy John Kerry despite China's announcement after Pelosi's visit that it was curbing cooperation on the issue, a key priority for Biden.

But in a speech before his talks with Blinken, Wang reiterated anger over US support for Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory.

"The Taiwan question is growing into the biggest risk in China-US relations. Should it be mishandled it is most likely to devastate bilateral ties," he said at the Asia Society think tank.

"Just as the US will not allow Hawaii to be stripped away, China has the right to uphold the unification of the country," he said.

He denounced the US decision to "allow" the Taiwan visit by Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president. The Biden administration, while privately concerned about her trip, noted that Congress is a separate branch of government.

- Arranging a summit -
But Wang was conciliatory toward Biden. The New York talks are expected to lay the groundwork for a first meeting between Biden and President Xi Jinping since they became their two countries' leaders, likely in Bali in November on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 economic powers.

Wang said that both Biden and Xi seek to "make the China-US relationship work" and to "steer clear of conflict and confrontation."

"However, what has happened is that the US seems to have two different sets of musical scores. Their leaders' political will for a stable bilateral relationship has yet to be translated into logical policies," he said.

The US Congress is a stronghold of support for Taiwan, a vibrant democracy and major technological power.

Last week a Senate committee took a first step to providing billions of dollars in weapons directly to Taiwan to deter China, a ramp-up from decades of only selling weapons requested by Taipei.

Tensions have also risen over human rights with the United States accusing the communist state of carrying out genocide against the mostly Muslim Uyghur people.

Biden, like his predecessor Donald Trump, has viewed a rising China as the chief global competitor to the United States and vowed to reorient US foreign policy around the challenge.

Russia's invasion in February of Ukraine quickly diverted the US focus to Europe but also heightened fears that Beijing could make good on years of threats to use force against Taiwan.

Yet US officials have also been heartened that China has shown some distance from Russia, nominally its close ally.

President Vladimir Putin at a meeting last week told Xi that he understood China's "concerns" on Ukraine, while Wang, in a special Security Council session on Thursday, emphasized the need to end the war rather than support for Russia.

In line with the Biden administration's focus on allies, Blinken met jointly Thursday with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea and immediately before his talks with Wang is expected to hold a meeting of the so-called Quad with Australia, India and Japan.



Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
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Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)

After the successful ousting of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing the grounds to dismiss Army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, reports in Tel Aviv revealed.
The PM’s intentions were visible through a series of preliminary measures. In a nine-minute video statement posted to social media on Saturday, Netanyahu claimed the ongoing investigation into the alleged theft and leak of classified documents, including by his aides, aimed at harming him and “an entire political camp.”
He then asserted that vital classified documents weren’t reaching him. “I am the prime minister. I need to receive important classified documents, and indeed sometimes important information doesn’t reach me.”
Netanyahu then defended his former spokesman Eli Feldstein, who is accused of leaking a classified document in a bid to sway public opinion against a truce-hostage deal in Gaza.
Last Thursday, Feldstein was charged with transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state.
The PM considered accusations against his spokesman as a “witch hunt” against his aides and Israelis who support him.
For the past 14 years, the Israeli right had run a large-scale incitement campaign against the security services. But in the last year, this camp increased its attack, particularly against the Chief of Staff, Halevi, who believes it is necessary to stop the war and ink a deal with Hamas.
The right-wing “Mida” website published a report entitled “Herzi Halevi’s Political Sabotage,” describing the man’s “rising against the Israeli political leadership.”
The report said Halevi's inappropriate behavior started during the first weeks of the war when the Army announced it was “ready for a ground attack,” accusing Netanyahu of delaying such an operation.
Mida then listed several other instances in which it described Netanyahu as a great leader who ordered strong attacks and deep military operations. It then accused the army of refraining from following his orders.
The report concludes that the “freeing of hostages file was the straw that broke the camel's back.”
In an April 2024 speech marking the six-month anniversary of the war, Halevi has said that it is time to end the war in Gaza and reach a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, while Netanyahu took a hardline stance, refusing to compromise on what he called “red lines.”
The Madi website also criticized Halevi for saying that the government was responsible for ordering the army of again operating in Jabalia, a decision that resulted in significant Israeli casualties.
“Halevi should have been dismissed as soon as the government was formed, and this was Netanyahu's mistake. But it is not too late to fix it. You can't win wars with rebel chiefs of staff,” the website wrote.