It will be the first time talks have been held between the heads of state of the four-member Quad and comes as all four countries see heightened tensions with China over a variety of issues.
“It’s confirmed the Quad meeting will happen soon, likely on Friday,” the source said.
The Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is an informal strategic forum for the four nations involved and has featured semi-regular summits and information exchanges.
But the meetings have never featured the four heads of state, currently US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
While not a formal military alliance like NATO, the Quad is seen by some as a potential counterweight to growing Chinese influence and alleged aggression in the Asia-Pacific region. The collation has been denounced by Beijing as an anti-China bloc.
Morrison previewed the talks in a news conference last week.
“The Quad is very central to the United States’ and our thinking about the region,” Morrison said.
“This will become a feature of Indo-Pacific engagement. But it’s not going to be a big bureaucracy with a big secretariat and those sorts of things. It will be four leaders, four countries, working together constructively for the peace, prosperity and stability of the Indo-Pacific, which is good for everyone in the Indo-Pacific,” the Australian PM said.
Joint military exercises
On the military portion of the Quad, cooperation has been increasing over the past year through bilateral agreements between Quad partners and joint military drills.
Last November, Australia joined the annual Malabar exercises with the US, Japan and India. Conducted annually since 1992, the maneuvers have grown in size and complexity in recent years to address what the US Navy has previously described as a “variety of shared threats to maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific.”
The participation of Australia meant all four members of the Quad were involved in the drills for the first time since 2007.
All four have seen turbulent relations with China over the past few years.
Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a military clash along the Line of Actual Control — the de facto border between the two countries in the Himalayas — in June, which left troops dead on both sides after hand-to-hand combat.
Relations between Beijing and New Delhi have been frosty since, with both trade and technology disputes arising.
Japan and China remain at odds over the disputed Senkaku Islands. Beijing has increased the presence of its coast guard vessels near the uninhabited East China Sea islands, which are known as the Diaoyus in China.
Australia and China have seen relations plummet over a series of trade disputes.
The US, meanwhile, has increased the tempo of its naval and air missions in the South China Sea, while pushing back at Beijing’s claims to the vast waterway. It has also stepped up support of self-governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.
Asia and China have been a key foreign policy focus of the Biden administration since it took office on January 20.
Last week, a State Department official and a diplomat from Asia said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to Japan and South Korea from March 14 to 18.
It will be the first international trip by Biden Cabinet officials since the US President’s inauguration.
Japanese leader expected to visit Washington
On Monday, Japan said Prime Minister Suga will visit the White House at the “earliest possible time,” while taking the Covid-19 situation into account, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato.
Kato said in a daily press briefing Monday the Japan-US summit meeting would happen, but the date and details have not been decided.
If confirmed, Suga will be the first international leader to visit the White House under the Biden administration.
Blinken this month cited the US relationship with Beijing as “the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century.” He said there is a need to engage China from a position of strength which can only be done alongside allies and partners.
“China is the only country with the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to seriously challenge the stable and open international system — all the rules, values, and relationships that make the world work the way we want it to,” Blinken said in the speech about the Biden administration’s national security strategy.
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares advanced to record highs on Monday as successful coronavirus vaccine rollouts globally raise hopes of a rapid economic recovery amid new fiscal aid from Washington, while oil prices rose on heightened tensions in the Middle East.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 0.4% to 736.4.
Japan’s Nikkei climbed 1.1%, despite data showing the country’s recovery from its worst postwar recession slowed in the fourth quarter.
Australia’s benchmark index added 0.9% while E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.3% in early Asian trading.
China and Hong Kong markets are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday. U.S. stock markets will be closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
The highlight of the week will probably be minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s January meeting, where policymakers decided to leave rates unchanged.
Data on inflation is due from the UK, Canada and Japan while Friday will see major economies including the United States release the preliminary February purchasing managers’ indices (PMI).
While economists expect inflation to stay benign for some while yet, the so-called “reflation trade” has gathered steam in recent days largely led by coronavirus vaccines and hopes of massive fiscal spending under U.S. President Joe Biden.
Biden pushed for the first major legislative achievement of his term, turning to a bipartisan group of local officials for help on his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.
“In our view, as long as the rise (in inflation) is gradual, equity markets can continue to do well. However, unruly moves would certainly hurt investor sentiment,” said Esty Dwek, head of global market strategy, Natixis Investment Managers Solutions.
“Credit spreads have tightened sharply already, but they still have room to absorb some higher yields, making us more comfortable with credit risk than interest rate risk,” Dwek added.
“Commodities would be beneficiaries of an inflationary cycle, but they can still continue to recover without high core inflation as economies reopen and demand picks up.”
Oil prices climbed to the highest since January 2020 on hopes U.S. stimulus will boost the economy and fuel demand.
Prices were also buoyant after a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it intercepted an explosive-laden drone fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi group, raising fears of fresh Middle East tensions.
Brent crude rose $1 to $63.43 a barrel. U.S. crude oil gained $1.2 to $60.7.
On Friday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq set record closing highs. The Dow finished 0.1% higher at 31,458.4 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 3,934.83 and the Nasdaq added 0.5% to 14,095.47.
Action in currencies was muted.
The dollar was slightly higher against the Japanese yen at 105.01 while the euro rose to $1.2125 and the British pound was up 0.3% at $1.3886. The risk sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars climbed 0.1% each.
That left the dollar index steady at 90.426.
Bitcoin was barely changed in early Asian trading at $47,994, below a record high of $49,714.66. It posted gains of roughly 20% in a milestone week marked by the endorsement of major firms such as Elon Musk’s Tesla.
(Reporting by Swati Pandey in Sydney; Editing by Kim Coghill and Jacqueline Wong)
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) hold a joint press conference following their meeting in Moscow, Russia on February 5, 2021. (Photo by Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian Foreign Ministry | Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
LONDON — A recent press conference between the EU’s top diplomat and Russia’s veteran foreign minister demonstrated diplomatic ties have plunged to a new low, prompting some analysts to question whether the “humiliating” trip could lead to further political consequences.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Moscow on Friday to voice the EU’s opposition to the arrest of Alexei Navalny, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, Borrell failed to rebuff his Russian counterpart’s comments when standing next to him at the press conference. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had claimed the EU was an “unreliable partner.”
In addition, Borrell learned via Twitter during his visit that Russia had expelled three EU diplomats for attending demonstrations in support of Navalny.
“My meeting with minister Lavrov highlighted that Europe and Russia are drifting apart. It seems that Russia is progressively disconnecting itself from Europe,” Borrell said in a blog post two days after the press conference. He described it as “a very complicated visit to Moscow.”
“The EU doesn’t have a proper Russia strategy.”
Jade McGlynn
research fellow, Henry Jackson Society
His controversial trip was so poorly received that a group of 73 European lawmakers said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “should take action, if Borrell does not resign by his own accord.” In a joint letter, they said Borrell failed “to stand for the interests and values of the European Union during his visit,” which caused “severe damage to the reputation of the EU.”
The links between the EU and Russia have been fractious for some time, but their ties are critical given their shared economic, energy and strategic interests.
Jade McGlynn, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, described the EU-Russia relationship as “coldly combustible” following Borrell’s trip to Moscow. “The EU doesn’t have a proper Russia strategy. There is no point in having a reset with Russia when Russia does not want it,” she said.
‘Very disappointing’ for U.S.-EU ties
Both sides had tried to improve their links on trade, energy, counterterrorism, among others, prior to 2014. In this context, the EU had supported Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, which concluded in 2012.
However, the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 was a turning point in their relationship. The EU opposed the move and imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and companies as a result.
Their ties were further frayed by Russia’s intervention in Syria’s long-running war and in other Middle Eastern conflicts. Additionally, several constitutional reforms in Russia have also sparked concern among European officials, including one that allows Putin to stay in power beyond his current mandate.
“Their relationship has always been challenging,” Ian Lesser, vice president at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, told CNBC, noting that now the ties are just “deteriorating on multiple fronts.”
As a result, Lesser expects “more pressure on the Nord Stream (project), including from Washington D.C.”
Nord Stream 2 is a natural gas pipeline going from Russia to Germany and once completed it would double the flow of energy resources between the two, according to Deutsche Welle.
The project has been sharply criticized, including by the United States, which has imposed sanctions on companies working on the pipeline — a stance that the new U.S. presidency has no intention of changing overnight. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Joe Biden’s administration is against the project.
Some European lawmakers are also of the opinion that Nord Stream 2 should be halted in response to Russia’s poisoning of Navalny. Before returning to Russia last month, Navalny had been recovering in Germany after narrowly surviving what has since been independently confirmed as poisoning by a Novichok nerve agent on August. 20. The Kremlin denies poisoning Navalny.
“I can imagine it’s very disappointing” for the U.S. to observe Friday’s press conference in Moscow, McGlynn said over the phone. She added that the U.S. is probably wondering “do we have a reliable partner who can stand up to Russia?”
Relations between the United States and China are at a low point in the post-Trump era, and nearly three weeks into his term President BidenJoe BidenDOJ dismissing suit against author of Melania Trump tell-all book Google expands election security aid for federal, state campaigns Biden backs House Democrats’ proposed threshold for COVID-19 checks MORE has yet to talk to his counterpart in Beijing, President Xi Jinping.
Biden has vowed to take a different approach to China than former President TrumpDonald TrumpDOJ to seek resignations of most Trump-appointed US attorneys: report Trump attorney withdraws request to not hold impeachment trial on Saturday Kinzinger in op-ed calls on GOP senators to convict Trump in impeachment trial MORE, who campaigned against China’s trade policies and then blamed Beijing for the coronavirus that devastated the U.S. economy in Trump’s reelection year.
“I’m not going to do it the way Trump did,” Biden said about his approach to Beijing, in an interview with CBS on Sunday. “We’re going to focus on international rules of the road.”
Biden is facing heavy pressure to take a tough line on Beijing, with Republicans already telegraphing it will be an issue in the 2022 midterms — and likely the 2024 presidential election.
But the president has also said he is prepared to cooperate with Beijing when it is in the interest of the U.S.
This includes efforts to defeat COVID-19, confront climate change, expand nuclear non-proliferation – in particular bringing Iran back to compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement and reining in North Korea’s nuclear threat — and, most recently, restore democracy in Myanmar following the military coup.
Tensions between the two countries are high in the post-Trump era in part because of the former president’s rhetoric – who repeatedly called COVID-19 the “China virus,” referring to the fact that the first cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan – but also because lawmakers in both parties are criticizing Beijing over a host of policies affecting the economy and national security.
The tensions most recently spilled over into the South China Sea after Beijing denounced joint exercises by two U.S. carrier groups, calling it an attempt by the U.S. to “flex its muscles” in the region that damages “peace and stability.”
The comments followed Beijing’s earlier frustration against the U.S. when an American warship sailed close to Chinese-controlled islands in the waters, where a number of regional countries have made claims.
The U.S. 7th fleet said the move was a “freedom of navigation operation” but the Chinese military accused the U.S. of infringing on China’s sovereignty and security.
Yet Chinese officials have also repeatedly called for “no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation” with the U.S.
Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Biden was critical in his foreign policy speech last week against Chinese policies – where he said American leadership must confront “ambitions of China to rival the United States” – but that the president and his team have showed no rush to engage with Beijing.
“They have other priorities, including coordinating with allies and partners,” she wrote in an email to The Hill.
“Meanwhile, the Chinese are sending the message that they are willing to improve bilateral ties, but only if it is on Chinese terms. There has yet to be a serious conversation between the two countries about how to manage their differences or how to cooperate on issues where they may have common ground.”
Biden said in his interview Sunday with CBS that there was no reason “not to call” Xi, and that the two have “a lot to talk about.”
The president said he does not seek conflict between the two nations but warned that “there’s going to be extreme competition.”
Secretary of State Antony BlinkenAntony BlinkenColombia to register thousands of Venezuela migrants in bid to give them legal residency The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Senate prepares for impeachment trial to start Biden administration announces plans to rejoin UN human rights council MORE is so far the highest-level U.S. official to speak with the Chinese, in a call last week with senior Chinese Communist Party official and diplomat Yang Jiechi.
The conversation largely focused on adversarial aspects of the relationship, with the secretary raising the issue of human rights abuses in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. On the latter issue, the secretary has sided with the Trump administration over its determination that China is carrying out genocide against the Muslim Uighurs and other ethnic groups.
Blinken also pushed for China to condemn the military coup in Myanmar.
Beijing has so far refrained from calling the military takeover a coup, though it joined a United Nations Security Council statement calling for the restoration of democratic rule in the country and release of detained, democratically elected government officials.
Both Blinken and national security adviser Jake SullivanJake SullivanOvernight Defense: Biden announces end to US support for offensive operations in Yemen | Pentagon orders mask-wearing indoors and out | Military COVID deaths mounting Biden: US taking ‘urgent’ steps to improve cybersecurity Biden condemns jailing of Navalny in Russia MORE, who has not spoken with any Chinese officials, have held calls with allies in Europe and Asia about confronting threats from China.
Sullivan had earlier said it is a priority to get on the same page with allies about dealing with Beijing, during an event with the U.S. Institute of Peace last month.
“I think China is right at the top of the list of things that we’ve got to work together on and where there is work to do to get fully aligned,” he said.
Sullivan also said the U.S. must be prepared to impose costs on Beijing over its human rights abuses, but did not elaborate on those measures.
Yet Republicans are laying the groundwork to more forcefully pressure Biden over getting tough with Beijing. They are particularly critical of China’s influence at the World Health Organization.
Biden rejoined the global body on his first day in office, reversing Trump’s withdrawal from the organization in July over criticisms it did not confront Beijing over the spread of COVID-19.
Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Josh HawleyJoshua (Josh) David HawleyOvernight Defense: Pentagon says extremist groups ‘very aggressively recruit’ troops | Capitol Guard deployment estimated at 3M | No US combat deaths in Afghanistan for a year | VA secretary confirmed Senate confirms Denis McDonough to lead VA under Biden The GOP’s impeachment ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ MORE (R-Mo.) seized on these criticisms on Tuesday, introducing legislation aimed at withholding U.S. funds from the WHO. Their statement followed the release of a WHO investigation they criticized as not addressing Beijing’s role in the spread of the virus.
“The mission of the WHO is to get public health information to the world so every country can make the best decisions to keep their citizens safe,” Scott said in a statement. “The WHO not only failed its mission, but it failed the world when it comes to the coronavirus. They served as a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party – parroting misinformation and helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic.”
The bill’s introduction coincided with the WHO’s release of preliminary findings of an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in China, which found the disease “most likely” originated in animals before jumping to humans, though it did not evaluate the shortcomings of the global response.
Hawley, who is considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate, criticized the WHO as prioritizing “the Chinese Communist Party’s interests over building a healthier world.”
Sen. Tom CottonTom Bryant CottonOvernight Defense: Pentagon says extremist groups ‘very aggressively recruit’ troops | Capitol Guard deployment estimated at 3M | No US combat deaths in Afghanistan for a year | VA secretary confirmed Senate confirms Denis McDonough to lead VA under Biden The GOP’s impeachment ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ MORE (R-Ark.), also a potential presidential candidate, tweeted in response to the investigation that “[for] over a year now the Chinese Communist Party apologists at [the WHO] have tried to spin the origins of the coronavirus.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki HaleyNikki HaleyBiden administration announces plans to rejoin UN human rights council US will rejoin UN Human Rights Council: report 5 lawyers leave Trump impeachment team ahead of trial: reports MORE, yet another possible Republican presidential contender, also criticized the WHO investigation, tweeting that it should have focused on “when China knew” about the coronavirus “and why they kept it from the rest of the world…”
Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamDOJ to seek resignations of most Trump-appointed US attorneys: report Lawmakers lay blame on Trump over riot as second impeachment trial looms Sunday shows – Trump impeachment trial, stimulus dominate MORE (R-S.C.), in an interview with CBS’s Meet the Press on Sunday, warned against Biden throwing out Trump’s foreign policies wholesale, including those related to China.
“I would slow down if I were President Biden and re-evaluate some of these Trump policies and keep them in place if they make sense,” he said.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Friday it was expelling diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany, accusing them of attending a rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as international tensions grew over the jailing of the Kremlin’s most prominent foe.
The announcement came as the European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the treatment of Navalny represents “a low point” in relations between Brussels and Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Swedish and Polish diplomats in St. Petersburg and a German diplomat in Moscow of taking part in what it called “unlawful” rallies on Jan. 23. Tens of thousands of people across Russia took to the streets that day to protest Navalny’s arrest.
The diplomats were declared “persona non grata” and were required to leave Russia “shortly,” a ministry statement said.
European officials strongly denounced the move.
Germany said its diplomat was fulfilling his duty by following the developments, and it warned Moscow that its action won’t go unanswered, summoning the Russian ambassador.
“We consider this expulsion unjustified and think it is another facet of the things that can be seen in Russia at the moment that are pretty far from the rule of law,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin after a videoconference with French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron expressed solidarity with Germany, Poland and Sweden and condemned “in the stronger terms” the expulsions and what happened to Navalny “from the beginning to the end.”
Sweden said it “considers this entirely unjustified, which we have also conveyed to the Russian side,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mats Samuelsson said in a statement to The Associated Press. Stockholm “strongly rejects Russian claims that the diplomat took part in a demonstration in Russia” and “reserves the right to take appropriate measures in response,” he said.
Poland also warned Moscow the move will further worsen relations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the expulsion, tweeting: “This arbitrary and unjustified act is Russia’s latest departure from its international obligations.” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also said on Twitter that expelling diplomats “for simply doing their jobs is a crude attempt to distract from Russia’s targeting of opposition leaders, protesters and journalists.”
Speaking at the start of his talks with Lavrov, Borrell said “our relations are under a severe strain, and the Navalny case is a low point in our relations.”
Afterward, Borell said he had relayed his concerns over Navalny’s jailing and the arrests of thousands of who had rallied on his behalf. The EU official said he also communicated the bloc’s support for Navalny’s release and for an investigation of the August poisoning but added that there were no proposals of additional sanctions against Russia from the EU at this point.
Merkel said that “we reserve the right to continue the sanctions” but noted the Navalny situation shouldn’t affect the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under construction to deliver more Russian natural gas to Germany.
Lavrov again accused European officials of refusing to share evidence of the poisoning. The Kremlin has said it won’t listen to Western criticism of Navalny’s sentencing and police action against his supporters.
Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption investigator and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, was arrested Jan. 17 upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.
On Tuesday, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Navalny violated probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction and ordered him to serve two years and eight months in prison. The ruling prompted international outrage.
In the mass protests across Russia’s 11 time zones for two weekends in a row, many people chanted slogans against Putin in the largest show of discontent in years. Thousands were detained. Several of Navalny’s close allies face criminal charges and are under house arrest, and many of his associates were handed short jail terms.
Top Navalny strategist Leonid Volkov argued Thursday that trying to maintain rallies every weekend would only lead to many more arrests and wear out the participants and said that protests should pause until spring after reaching a peak.
Instead, he urged supporters to focus on challenging Kremlin-backed candidates in September’s parliamentary elections and securing new Western sanctions against Russia to press for Navalny’s release. He said Navalny’s team would try to ensure that “every world leader would discuss nothing but Navalny’s release with Putin.”
On Friday, however, another Navalny ally, Vladimir Milov, expressed disappointment with Borrell’s visit to Moscow. He called it a “disastrously weak visit” and said Lavrov “used him as a decoration to lecture Europe on ‘international law.’”
“Maybe he’ll bring back some Sputink V vaccines as a reward,” Milov tweeted, referencing Borrell’s praise of Russia’s domestically developed coronavirus vaccine.
Navalny, meanwhile, was back in court Friday for yet another trial — this time on a charge of defaming a World War II veteran featured in a pro-Kremlin video that Navalny denounced on social media last year.
A criminal probe was opened after Navalny slammed people featured in a video promoting constitutional amendments last year that allowed an extension to Putin’s rule. Navalny called the people in the video “corrupt stooges,” “people without conscience” and “traitors.”
Russian authorities maintained that Navalny’s comments “denigrate (the) honor and dignity” of Ignat Artemenko, the veteran featured in the video.
If convicted, Navalny faces a fine or community service. He has denied the charge and refused to enter a plea on Friday, calling the trial a “PR process” aimed at disparaging him.
“The Kremlin needs headlines (saying that) Navalny slandered a veteran,” he said.
Artemenko, 94, took part in the hearing via teleconference, saying he was distressed by Navalny’s comments and demanding a public apology.
Navalny accused Artemenko’s family of exploiting the frail man for their own gain, alleging the case was fabricated and the evidence falsified.
“The judge should burn in hell, and you’re selling your grandfather out,” Navalny said, as Artemenko’s grandson testified.
The hearing was eventually adjourned until Feb. 12.
___
Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Matthew Lee in Washington and Jill Lawless in London contributed.
TAIPEI (Reuters) – A U.S. aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas”, the U.S. military said on Sunday, at a time when tensions between China and Taiwan have raised concern in Washington.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement the strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defence identification zone in the vicinity of the Pratas Islands.
The U.S. military said the carrier strike group was in the South China Sea, a large part of which is claimed by China, to conduct routine operations “to ensure freedom of the seas, build partnerships that foster maritime security”.
“After sailing through these waters throughout my 30-year career, it’s great to be in the South China Sea again, conducting routine operations, promoting freedom of the seas, and reassuring allies and partners,” Rear Adm. Doug Verissimo, commander of the strike group, was quoted as saying.
“With two-thirds of the world’s trade travelling through this very important region, it is vital that we maintain our presence and continue to promote the rules-based order which has allowed us all to prosper,” Verissimo said in the statement.
The announcement comes just days after Joe Biden was sworn in as U.S. president.
Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday there was “no doubt” China posed the most significant challenge to the United States of any nation.
China has repeatedly complained about U.S. Navy ships getting close to Chinese-occupied islands in the South China Sea, where Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan all have competing claims.
The Theodore Roosevelt is being accompanied by the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Russell and USS John Finn, the U.S. statement said.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Tom Hogue)
