A New Report Warns China And The U.S. Are 'Drifting Toward A War' Over Taiwan

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🗓️ 22 June 2023

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

There has been no shortage of confrontations between the U.S. and China this year. This week, shortly after a trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, intended to thaw relations with China, President Biden likened Chinese President Xi Jinping to a "dictator" in off the cuff remarks. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry called that "an open political provocation." Before that there were dust ups over TikTok and a Chinese spy balloon.

But one of the most intractable and volatile issues continues to be the fate of Taiwan. And a new report sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations says that the U.S. and China are 'drifting toward a war' over the island.

Two of the report's authors, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon and Admiral Mike Mullen, formerly the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, argue the U.S. should take action now to prevent that outcome.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	When it comes to the US and China, bland diplomatic rhetoric can cloud at times just how
0:13.1	high the stakes are.
0:15.0	Like when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China this week, he said the two countries
0:19.6	need to quote responsibly manage the relationship.
0:23.2	Well, here's how Jude Blanchett at the Center for Strategic and International Studies translated
0:28.7	that in an interview with NPR's A Martinas.
0:31.6	This point, the relationship has deteriorated to such an extent that I think at a foundational
0:36.8	level, manage means steering these two countries away from conflict.
0:42.2	So basically, just don't get into a war with each other.
0:45.2	That's how low this has gotten to.
0:48.0	Sadly, yes.
0:49.0	Stakes don't get much higher than avoiding a war between the world's biggest superpowers,
0:54.0	right?
0:55.0	But new confrontations between these two countries continue to bubble up, as we saw
1:00.2	almost immediately after Blinken's trip to Beijing.
1:03.2	Just hours after Joe Biden's top diplomat seemed to bring the US and China closer together
1:07.5	in offhand comment by the American President has put new strain on the superpower relationship.
1:12.8	At a campaign event, Biden likened some of President Xi Jinping's recent behavior to that
1:17.5	of a quote, dictator.
1:19.0	A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry called the remarks utterly absurd and irresponsible
1:24.4	and said that Biden's words were quote, an open political provocation.
1:30.6	And before this latest dust up, there was the push to crack down on TikTok, the popular
	...

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