Blinken: US, China in Competition to ‘Shape What Comes Next’

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a foreign policy discussion at the Brookings Institute in Washington on July 1, 2024. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

The United States must work with its allies to overcome communist China’s attempts to remake the international order, according to America’s top diplomat.

The United States must invest in domestic industries and work with its allies to approach all dealings with China “from a position of strength,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a talk at the Brookings Institution think tank on July 1.

“We are at a point where the post-Cold War era is over, and there is a race and a competition on to shape what comes next,” he said.

Mr. Blinken noted that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to displace the United States and establish itself as “the dominant country in the international system” economically, diplomatically, and militarily.

While costly, Mr. Blinken said, the United States needs to confront the CCP wherever it seeks to expand its power to prevent the regime from gaining momentum in its efforts to establish a new authoritarian model for global governance.

“Our partners in Asia understand that if you allow aggression to go unchecked anywhere, it becomes a greater threat everywhere,” he said.

“It means not only recognizing but embracing the fact that yes, we are in an intense competition, an intense competition to shape what the international environment looks like over the coming decades.”

Mr. Blinken said the Biden administration is seeking to work with regional allies to counter the growing and interconnected threats that the liberal rules-based international order faces throughout the globe, many of which ultimately lead back to the CCP.

He pointed to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The vast majority of new Russian munitions, missiles, and tanks were created with Chinese components, he said, noting that more than 90 percent of all microelectronics being used by Russia are now coming from China, as well as 70 percent of machine tools.

Mr. Blinken said U.S. allies in Europe now view China as a player in the region’s largest war in 80 years and that they have been increasingly prepared to support U.S. efforts to counter the regime. That marked a change from the beginning of the administration, he said.

“We’re at a place now where we were not at 3 1/2 years ago ... where we can approach this with tremendous confidence, acknowledging the developments and acknowledging the challenges, but knowing that we’ve made the right investments in ourselves and knowing that we’ve made the right investments in allies and partners,” he said.