Tag: Joe Biden

Instead of calling him a dictator maybe President Biden should have just called him an Emperor instead because that is essentially what Xi Jinping has made himself into:

China called President Biden’s suggestion that its leader is a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible” on Wednesday in an angry response that threatened to undo recent efforts by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to calm tensions between the two superpowers.

Biden referred to Xi Jinping as a dictator while speaking Tuesday at a campaign event, where he said the Chinese leader had been embarrassed by the U.S. downing of a spy balloon because he was unaware it had gone off course.

“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two boxcars full of spy equipment in it is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said. “That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators: when they didn’t know what happened.”

Washington Post

You can read more at the link.

This latest trip abroad for President Yoon has gone way better than his last one where he showed up late to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and was caught using an expletive on a hot mic initially reported to be directed towards President Biden:

 President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee briefly reunited with U.S. President Joe Biden at a gala dinner for world leaders in Phnom Penh the previous day, the presidential office said Sunday.

Yoon and Kim “met with U.S. President Joe Biden who entered the venue shortly after they arrived and happily exchanged greetings,” deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung said in a written briefing. “President Yoon and President Biden caught up with each other and fondly posed for photos.”

The couple also happily exchanged greetings with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, Lee said.

The leaders are in Cambodia to attend regional summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On Sunday, Yoon, Biden and Kishida are scheduled to hold bilateral and trilateral summits on the event’s sidelines.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This makes me wonder who was coordinating this trip for President Yoon because there is a big difference between a 30 minute meeting and less than a minute:

When Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said last week that President Yoon Suk-yeol’s summit with U.S. President Joe Biden would be brief ― 30 minutes or so ― many thought that it might be too short to talk about the urgent issues between the two countries. But the meeting in New York City turned out to be even shorter ― far shorter ― than he hoped it would be. At a fundraising event hosted by Biden, Yoon had a standing conversation with him for less than a minute ― 48 seconds, precisely. 

According to Yoon’s office and the White House, Wednesday (local time), Yoon asked Biden to help resolve South Korean companies’ concerns over the Inflation Reduction Act and they reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering the bilateral alliance against North Korea during the conversation. 

The act, passed last month, gives a tax credit to buyers of electric vehicles (EVs) from next January if a minimum of 40 percent of the critical minerals in their batteries are mined or processed in the U.S. or countries that signed free trade agreements in the U.S., or recycled in North America. At least 50 percent of the battery components must also be manufactured or assembled in North America. The law is causing significant concern for Korean automakers.

The news immediately drew criticism from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which called the meeting the latest episode of “diplomatic disaster” committed by Yoon.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It seems to me that President Biden is making it pretty clear that the U.S. will defend Taiwan if it is attacked by China:

President Joe Biden on Sunday for the second time this year said U.S. troops would help defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese invasion, further casting doubt on the United States’ policy of “strategic ambiguity” regarding the island democracy.

Biden in an interview broadcast on CBS’ “60 Minutes” said the U.S. remains committed to the “One China” policy that acknowledges Beijing’s claim over Taiwan but considers the island’s status unresolved.

However, in the case of an “unprecedented attack,” U.S. troops would intervene, the president said.

An unnamed White House spokesman later said official U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan has not changed, CNBC reported Monday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is likely a good thing to let the Chinese know exactly where the U.S. stands if they try and attack Taiwan:

President Joe Biden, speaking Monday during his first visit presidential visit to Japan, signaled an apparent end to the U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity by saying the United States would defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion.

“Yes,” Biden replied when asked by a reporter in Tokyo if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend the island.

“That’s the commitment we made,” he said at a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The U.S. has maintained a “One China policy” that acknowledges Beijing’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. However, the policy doesn’t give China the right to use force to take over the island, Biden said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

If President Yoon wanted to show President Biden where close integration between the USFK and the ROK Military happens, the KAOC is good place to start:

President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden visited an Air Force operations center Sunday on the last stop of Biden’s three-day trip to South Korea, underscoring the allies’ readiness against threats from North Korea.

The two visited the Korean Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC), which is situated in an underground bunker and serves as a key command post for air and space operations at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul.

Yoon described the center as a symbol of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and a key site where the two countries jointly respond to “continually advancing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Over in Newsweek Rabbi Abraham Cooper and human rights activist Greg Scarlatoiu have a response to Pyongyang’s mouthpiece in America, Christine Ahn who is demanding the Biden administration give in to all of North Korea’s demands:

The truth is that no one has the answer to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. But caving to tyrants’ demands isn’t an option. North Korea is ruled by a regime that joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty, then withdrew and developed nuclear weapons. The Kim regime commits crimes against its own people and citizens of other countries. By entering a peace treaty and normalizing relations with a criminal regime in possession of nuclear weapons, the U.S. would be creating a precedent and blueprint for other tyrants: brutalize your subjects, develop weapons of mass destruction and the U.S. and the world will blink.

Newsweek via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but giving in to North Korea’s demands is more than setting a precedent. Giving in also means advancing North Korea’s strategy of ending the U.S.-ROK alliance and establishing their confederation policy with them in charge of the peninsula.