Incoming Biden secretary of state: Trump right to take ‘tougher stance’ on China

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President-elect Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said in a confirmation hearing Tuesday there is "no doubt" China poses the greatest threat of any nation to the U.S.  and the Trump administration was right to take a tougher stance against the Asian power. 

"President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China," said Blinken, who served as then-Vice President Biden’s national security advisor before being elevated to deputy secretary of state under Barack Obama. "Not the way he went about it in a number of ways, but the basic principle was right." 

Blinken said he would prefer to lead from a "position of strength," working with allies and leading international institutions. 

"No party has a monopoly on good ideas. I hope we can work together and pool ideas," the nominee said. 

Blinken's tough stance on China came just as his predecessor, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accused China of state-sponsored genocide of the Uighur people in the Xinjiang Province. 

On the genocide designation, Blinken said: "That would be my judgment as well." The U.S. is now the first state to accuse China of genocide.

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Blinken also praised the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords, U.S.-brokered peace deals between Israel and several Arab nations. He applauded the administration’s work to broker a deal between Kosovo and Serbia and to pressure NATO allies to invest more. 

Blinken said that China was now openly seeking hegemony throughout the world. "The hiding and biding has gone away and they are much more assertive in making clear that they seek to become in effect, the leading country in the world."

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The nominee expressed optimism that the U.S. could stave off China’s encroachment. "We can outcompete China—and remind the world that a government of the people, for the people, can deliver for its people," Blinken said. 

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He also said the U.S. is committed to ensuring Taiwan can defend itself against China. "The commitment to Taiwan is something that we hold to very strongly."