Monday, March 22, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 22, 2021

 https://smashwords2.weebly.com/1.html


Doha (Arabicالدوحة‎, ad-Dawḥa or ad-Dōḥapronounced [adˈdawħa]) is the capital and most populous city of the State of Qatar. It has a population of 956,460 (2015).[1] The city is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the east of the country, North of Al Wakrah and South of Al Khor. It is Qatar's fastest growing city, with over 80% of the nation's population living in Doha or its surrounding suburbs,[2] and it is the political and economic center of the country.     from Wikipedia


The Doha Experiment: Arab Kingdom, Catholic College, Jewish Teacher

Gary Wasserman’s decision to head to Qatar to teach at Georgetown sounds questionable, at best. “In the beginning,” he writes, “this sounds like a politically incorrect joke. A Jewish guy walks into a fundamentalist Arab country to teach American politics at a Catholic college.” But he quickly discovers that he has entered a world that gives him a unique perspective on the Middle East and on Muslim youth; that teaches him about the treatment of Arab women and what an education will do for them, both good and bad; shows him the occasionally amusing and often deadly serious consequences his students face simply by living in the Middle East; and finds surprising similarities between his culture and the culture of his students.


Most importantly, after eight years of teaching in Qatar he realizes he has become part of a significant, little understood movement to introduce liberal, Western values into traditional societies. Written with a sharp sense of humor, The Doha Experiment offers a unique perspective on where the region is going and clearly illustrates why Americans need to understand this clash of civilizations.
Click here to learn more about upccoming events, promotions, and more.     source from


Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem said that the first item of business will be setting the
agenda

Afghan peace talks resume in Doha as US reviews Taliban deal


Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan gov’t resume in Doha after weeks of delays and change in US diplomatic leadership.

Date published on Feb. 23, 2021Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have resumed in the Qatari capital Doha after weeks of delays, escalating violence and a change in US diplomatic leadership as the Biden administration began.

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem tweeted on Monday night the resumption of the talks, which were the outcome of an agreement between the Afghan armed group and the US in February 2020.


But the administration of President Joe Biden is reviewing the agreement, which was aimed at ending the longest war the US has fought. The Taliban has been fighting the combined forces of the Western-backed Kabul government and foreign troops since it was toppled in a US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Last week, the Taliban in an open letter called on the US to fully implement the Doha accord, including the withdrawal of all international troops, saying it had committed to its side of the deal – to secure US security interests in the war-torn country.     more details

Previously Articles:
Afghanistan launches year’s first polio vaccination drive
Hazaras fear for future as Afghanistan risks slipping into chaos
What options does Biden have in Afghanistan?


Qatar says it is committed to sustainable peace in Afghanistan
Qatar to join Afghan peace talks in Moscow: Official

Special envoy of Qatar, Ambassador Mutlaq Alqahtani, to participate in the March 18 meeting in Moscow, official tells Al Jazeera.

Date Published on Mar. 16
Qatar will attend a Russia-sponsored summit this week to discuss the future of war-ravaged Afghanistan, a senior official said in a statement to Al Jazeera.

Qatar’s special envoy, Ambassador Mutlaq Alqahtani, will participate in the March 18 meeting in Moscow, the official said on Tuesday.

“The state of Qatar is committed to sustainable peace in Afghanistan. Qatar will continue to facilitate the ongoing intra-Afghan negotiations,” he said, according to the statement.

“Qatar is working closely with its strategic partners to establish international and regional consensus over this process.”
The official said the meeting in Moscow on Thursday “will build upon the historic United States-Taliban peace agreement signed in Doha” in February last year and the “comprehensive intra-Afghan negotiations currently taking place in Doha”.

The Taliban and the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have agreed to attend the conference in Russia, which is seeking to raise its profile in the Afghan peace efforts.


The US Department of State on Monday said Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, will also attend the meeting.

China and Pakistan have also been invited to the talks, which come ahead of a May deadline for US President Joe Biden to decide whether to end the US’s two-decade military involvement in Afghanistan.     continued 

US Defense Secretary Meets Ghani in Kabul

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Kabul for an unannounced visit, sources said, adding that he is expected to meet with high-ranking Afghan officials.

Mar. 21 -  President Ghani met with US defense secretary on Sunday afternoon, the Presidential Palace said, adding that both expressed their concerns over the increase of violence in the country.

Ghani and US defense secretary stressed that enduring and just peace is the main solution for the current situation in Afghanistan, the Palace said, adding that Mr. Austin said that the United States is supporting Afghanistan in this respect.

His trip comes after he visited India where he and his Indian counterpart pledged to expand their military engagement, underscoring the strengthening defense ties between two countries concerned over China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the Associated Press. 

His trip comes as the US is reviewing the Doha agreement with the Taliban while also keeping all options on the table when it comes to the May 1st deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Quoting two sources, NBC News reported last week that President Joe Biden is considering keeping US troops in Afghanistan until November, rather than withdrawing them by a May 1 deadline outlined in the Doha agreement. 

In recent discussions with members of his national security team, Biden has pushed back against the Defense Department’s efforts to keep US troops in Afghanistan beyond May 1, one of the people said, as quoted by NBC News. But he has been persuaded to consider a six-month extension.      source from

Friday, March 19, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 20, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 lessons on how to wake up, take action, and do the work (Empower the Future 1)

Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it exist? What can you do to disrupt it? Learn about social identities, the history of racism and resistance against it, and how you can use your anti-racist lens and voice to move the world toward equity and liberation. 

"In a racist society, it's not enough to be non-racist--we must be ANTI-RACIST." --Angela Davis     
 quoted from

MARCH 19, 2021
House Hearing on U.S. Policy in China and North Korea
Foreign policy experts testified before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on U.S. policy toward China, Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific countries. Among the witnesses testifying were Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass and Randall Schriver, the former assistant Defense secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs in the Trump administration. Lawmakers questioned the witnesses about U.S. competition with China, the political situation in Myanmar, counterterrorism challenges and U.S. multilateral diplomacy in the region. 


U.S. Navy Destroyer Sails Through Taiwan Strait Again As Beijing Protests
Joe Biden Admin Enters War of Words with China, Russia, and North Korea


Mar. 20 - ​In a busy week of foreign policy developments, President Joe Biden and his top officials have engaged in tense exchanges with China, Russia and North Korea, all as the White House looks to bolster America's historic alliances and push back against pressure from authoritarian regimes.

Biden is juggling his commitment to diplomacy and multilateralism with his vow to push back on the world's dictators, figures he and his allies argue former President Donald Trump did too little to rein in.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Japan and South Korea this week, expressing shared concerns over Chinese and North Korean regional aggression...     continue to read
The North Korean flag seen in the country’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur on 19 March, 2021
North Korea to cut ties with Malaysia over extradition of citizen to US


Malaysia denounced North Korea’s decision, calling it ‘unfriendly and unconstructive’

Mar. 20 - North Korea has said it will cut diplomatic ties with Malaysia over the latter’s decision to extradite a North Korean man, accused of money laundering, to the United States. 
North Korea’s foreign ministry said that the American money laundering charges against the North Korean national were an “absurd fabrication and sheer plot” orchestrated by “the principal enemy of our state.”

Malaysia’s top court this month rejected claims by North Korean Mun Chol Myong that the US charge was politically motivated and ruled that he could be extradited.
 
Mr Mun was arrested in May 2019 after the US requested his extradition, accusing him of laundering money through front companies and violating international sanctions by helping to ship prohibited luxury goods from Singapore to North Korea. He moved to Malaysia from Singapore in 2008.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said it was severing diplomatic relations with Malaysia, which “committed super-large hostile act[s] against (North Korea) in subservience to the US pressure,” according to the Associated Press. It also warned that the US will “pay a price.” 

Malaysia denounced North Korea’s decision, calling it “unfriendly and unconstructive.” Its foreign ministry said in a statement that the extradition was only carried out after the due legal process had been exhausted. ​     source from

Thursday, March 18, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 19, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)


Yang Jiechi (Chinese杨洁篪; born 1 May 1950) is a high-ranking Chinese politician and diplomat. Since 2013, he has served as director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the highest diplomat under CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping and has served as a CPC Politburo member since 2017. He is generally regarded as one of the foremost contemporary architects of China's foreign policy. Yang served as the tenth Foreign Minister of China between 2007 and 2013. He joined the inner circle of the State Council in 2013, as a State Councilor under Premier Li Keqiang. Yang spent much of his professional life in the United States, where he served as Chinese Ambassador from 2001 to 2005.     from Wikipedia


China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi tells US not to follow ‘misguided’ Trump policies
Foreign policy chief says relationship should not be adversarial, in highest-ranking remarks since Joe Biden’s inauguration
But signals from Washington suggest relations will continue along similar path with tactical changes

Date published on Feb. 2, 2021
China’s most senior foreign policy official Yang Jiechi said the US under Donald Trump had followed “misguided policies”, and called on the new administration to change course – even as comments from President Joe Biden’s advisers echo his predecessor’s tough tone on China.

“For the past few years, the Trump administration adopted misguided policies against China, plunging the relationship into its most difficult period since the establishment of diplomatic ties,” said Yang, a Politburo member regarded as President Xi Jinping’s most trusted foreign policy aide.     source from


Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The First U.S. Meeting With China Under Biden Didn’t Go So Smoothly

Mar. 19 - In a speech earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined the foreign policy template for the Biden administration. Notably absent, considering the stance of the United States over the previous two decades, was the mention of terrorism. But frequently raised was America’s relationship with China, which Blinken called “the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century.”


On Thursday, the Biden and Xi administrations began their relationship with a testy first encounter between high-level officials. When Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with top Chinese diplomats Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday, Sullivan began the meeting saying that the U.S. does “not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition,” adding that “we will always stand up for our principles, for our people, and for our friends.”     continue to read


Vice President Joe Biden arrives to attend a China-US Business Dialogue in the Beijing Hotel, August 2011 
Who believes the WHO?
The Biden administration apparently — and nobody else

Date published on Feb. 9 , 2021
...President Biden promised on the campaign trail he would be tough on China, but one of his first priorities after taking office was to rejoin the China-abetting WHO. The Biden administration defended this move by assuring that the US could exert more influence on the WHO if it were a member. However, press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Tuesday that the administration was not involved in the ‘planning and implementation’ of the investigation and would be reviewing the results.

Psaki added that it’s ‘imperative that we have our own team of experts on the ground’ in Beijing. State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that they are skeptical of the investigation and China’s cooperation with it, saying, ‘I think the jury’s still out. I think clearly the Chinese, at least heretofore, have not offered the requisite transparency that we need’...     source from
中美高层战略对话在即 美拉盟友“唱歌壮胆”实属徒劳 20210318 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Mar 19, 2021
The Shadow War: Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America
Are we losing a war few of us realize we’re fighting?
Jim Sciutto, CNN’s Chief National Security Correspondent, reveals the invisible fronts that make up 21st century warfare, from disinformation campaigns to advanced satellite weapons.


Poisoned dissidents. Election interference. Armed invasions. International treaties thrown into chaos. Secret military buildups. Hackers and viruses. Weapons deployed in space. China and Russia (and Iran and North Korea) spark news stories here by carrying out bold acts of aggression and violating international laws and norms. Isn’t this just bad actors acting badly?

That kind of thinking is outdated and dangerous. Emboldened by their successes, these countries are, in fact, waging a brazen, global war on the US and the West. This is a new Cold War, which will not be won by those who fail to realize they are fighting it. The enemies of the West understand that while they are unlikely to win a shooting war, they have another path to victory. And what we see as our greatest strengths—open societies, military innovation, dominance of technology on Earth and in space, longstanding leadership in global institutions—these countries are undermining or turning into weaknesses.

In The Shadow War, CNN anchor and chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto provides us with a revealing and at times disturbing guide to this new international conflict. This Shadow War is already the greatest threat to America’s national security, even though most Americans know little or nothing about it. With on-the-ground reporting from Ukraine to the South China Sea, from a sub under the Arctic to unprecedented access to America’s Space Command, Sciutto draws on his deep knowledge, high-level contacts, and personal experience as a journalist and diplomat to paint the most comprehensive and vivid picture of a nation targeted by a new and disturbing brand of warfare.     source

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 18, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Katherine Chi Tai (born February 28, 1974)[1] is an American attorney who is the current senate-confirmed US Trade Representative. Tai previously served as the chief trade counsel for the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. Nominated in December of 2020, she passed the Finance committee with no opposition, and was confirmed by the Senate unanimously by a vote of 98-0 (with two senators absent), making her the only member of the Cabinet of Joe Biden to be confirmed with no opposition.

Early life and education
Tai was born in Connecticut and grew up in Washington, D.C., where she attended Sidwell Friends School.[3] Her parents, who were both born in mainland China,[4] grew up in Taiwan and later immigrated to the United States.[5][6] Tai graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.[7] She taught English at Sun Yat-sen University as a Yale-China Fellow for two years.[8] After college, she worked for several law firms, including Baker McKenzie and Miller & Chevalier, and clerked for U.S. District Courts in Washington, D.C., and Maryland.     from Wikipedia

Katherine Tai
Taiwanese-American confirmed as US trade representative

Mar. 18 - TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Katherine Tai (戴琪) was confirmed as the U.S. trade representative on Wednesday (March 17), making her first the first Taiwanese-American, Asian-American, and woman of color to hold the post.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Tai as the top American trade negotiator in a vote of 98 to 0, with the two senators who were absent, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) also supporting her selection. During the proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer remarked that Tai is "the daughter of proud immigrants from Taiwan."     continue to read
The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia

China’s rise has upset the global balance of power, and the first place to feel the strain is Beijing’s back yard: the South China Sea. For decades tensions have smoldered in the region, but today the threat of a direct confrontation among superpowers grows ever more likely. This important book is the first to make clear sense of the South Sea disputes. Bill Hayton, a journalist with extensive experience in the region, examines the high stakes involved for rival nations that include Vietnam, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and China, as well as the United States, Russia, and others. Hayton also lays out the daunting obstacles that stand in the way of peaceful resolution.

 
Through lively stories of individuals who have shaped current conflicts—businessmen, scientists, shippers, archaeologists, soldiers, diplomats, and more—Hayton makes understandable the complex history and contemporary reality of the South China Sea. He underscores its crucial importance as the passageway for half the world’s merchant shipping and one-third of its oil and gas. Whoever controls these waters controls the access between Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Pacific. The author critiques various claims and positions (that China has historic claim to the Sea, for example), overturns conventional wisdoms (such as America’s overblown fears of China’s nationalism and military resurgence), and outlines what the future may hold for this clamorous region of international rivalry.     source from


朝鲜谴责美韩军演 美紧拉日韩布局东北亚?20210316 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Mar 17, 2021


U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, stands with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi during a meeting at Defense Ministry in Tokyo on March 16, 2021.
Japan, US defense chiefs call for peace, stability in Taiwan Strait


Mar. 18 - TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin on Tuesday underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, in an apparent reference to China's increasing military pressure on the self-ruled island.

Kishi and Austin's mention of the waters between Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, and the Chinese mainland came after China conducted military drills there last September.

Kishi spoke to reporters after meeting with the Pentagon chief on the sidelines of so-called two-plus-two talks held in Tokyo between the two countries' ministers in charge of defense and foreign affairs.


Kishi, the younger brother of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is known for his support for Taiwan, having made frequent trips to the island as a member of a bipartisan group dedicated to promoting ties between Tokyo and Taipei before becoming defense minister in September.

Kishi said he and Austin also affirmed Japan-U.S. coordination in curbing China's assertiveness around Japanese waters, including the Senkaku Islands, a set of East China Sea islets controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, which calls them Diaoyu.

They also shared "serious concerns" over China's new maritime security law that allows Chinese coast guard ships to use weapons on foreign vessels in waters that Beijing sees as its territory.

The ministers agreed the law does not comply with international law, according to Kishi.

The Kishi-Austin talks came days after the leaders of Japan, the United States, Australia and India agreed in the so-called "Quad" security meeting last week to cooperate in ensuring a rules-based maritime order in the East and South China seas.     source from
美日“2+2”会谈或涉钓鱼岛 美欲如何展示“联盟力量”?20210315 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Mar 16, 2021


China to Take 'Necessary Measures' to Keep Taiwan, 'Resolutely Defend' from U.S.

Ma4. 11 - China has issued a new warning to U.S. President Joe Biden's administration against sailing Navy warships through the disputed waters near Taiwan. It has also called on the self-ruling island to seek reunification with the mainland ahead of the first high-profile talks between Beijing and Washington.

Responding to last week's transit of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn through the Taiwan Strait, a spokesperson for the Beijing-based Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian warned Wednesday that the move "sent the wrong signal to the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces, deliberately disrupting the regional situation and undermining the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait."


"We firmly oppose this," Zhu said, calling on the United States to abide by the "one-China principle" and "the Three Communiques" signed with China regarding the status of Taiwan since Washington and Beijing first began talks nearly half a century ago.     source from

Featured Post

Mischief Reef |Mar. 25

  WH keeping public in dark on what Biden demanded of China’s Xi over arming Putin​ Mar. 18 - The White House was tight-lipped Friday about ...