Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

CHINA

A major development in US-China relations this week as the State Department orders the closing of the Chinese Consulate in Houston. It appears a lot more than diplomacy was going on in Texas. In an interview this week Secretary of State Pompeo said that everyone knows the rules for diplomats. “You’re only permitted to be there in a diplomatic status with the consent of the host nation… it’s not okay to use your diplomats to engage in industrial espionage, it’s not okay to steal intellectual property, it’s not okay to engage in those kind of behaviors.” The Chinese have many more diplomats in the US than there are American diplomats in China.

On Thursday, Pompeo gave a major speech at the Nixon Library in California defining the US-China relationship in terms of the new policy objectives of the Trump Administration. Pompeo said the closing of the Houston consulate is protect the American people. In 2015 President Trump began to talk about the China threat and the need to ensure that jobs which depend on American intellectual property aren’t lost to theft from Chinese diplomats. In retaliation the Chinese announced the closing of the American Consulate in Chengdu, China. The Secretary said that Washington had been ignoring China Communist Party activity inside the US for over 40 years and that it is time to secure the nation. According to Pompeo, “General Secretary Xi has clearly taken actions that are aggressive and broken promises that are central to how great power nations behave….” Pompeo added that the US wants good things for the Chinese.

GREENLAND

In Denmark to meet with the three foreign ministers – the foreign minister of Denmark, the foreign minister of Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, Pompeo pointed out that the US has an important relationship with the Kingdom of Denmark, and the “three of us together are working on making sure that we get national security right for everyone.” The US operates Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. Pompeo said the US wants “to make sure that the Arctic is peaceful and that activity in that region is handled in the appropriate way.”

The Secretary is concerned about aggressive Chinese activity in the Arctic. He added: “ I think we’ve all been a little bit naive to watch not only the Russians but the Chinese interests there competing to become more and more aggressive. We have a responsibility for our people to make sure that we respond in a way that is appropriate, to do everything we can to make sure that the environment there is taken care of, to make sure that this doesn’t become another place for battle.”

NATO

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Questioned this week about NATO while in Europe, Secretary Pompeo commented that the US wants to ensure that the European nations pay their share of the cost. He pointed out that the United States is an “enormous partner in the transatlantic alliance.” And that the US remains the largest contributor to NATO. The US continues to provide humanitarian assistance to countries all across the world, many of which are European, he added.

SYRIA

On July 20 the Assad regime held so-called Parliamentary Elections in Syria. According to a statement released this week by the US State Department, “Bashar Al Assad is seeking to present this dubious election as a success against alleged Western plotting, but in reality it is simply another in a long line of Assad’s stage-managed, unfree votes in which the Syrian people have no real choice.”

Syria has not held free and fair elections since Assad’s Ba’ath party came to power. “We have seen credible reports of polling staff handing out ballots already filled in with Ba’ath party candidates. Reports of citizens being pressured to vote were common, and voter privacy was not guaranteed. In addition, Syrians residing outside the country – comprising nearly one quarter of Syria’s pre-revolution population – were not permitted to vote. This disenfranchised population includes the more than 5 million refugees driven out of the country by the regime’s relentless war against its own citizens,” according to the State Department.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Election Day is Only the Beginning, Part 2

There is a stark contrast in foreign affairs between the Biden-Harris record of a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Putin invasion of Ukraine, China’s assault on the Philippine exclusive economic zone, and the widening Middle East catastrophe. The Trump White House archives provides a lengthy list of foreign policy results. “President Trump restored American sovereignty at home and American leadership abroad, partnering with strong and responsible nations to promote security, prosperity, and peace. Instead of sending American troops to fight in endless wars or giving cash to terrorists in countries like Iran, the United States under President Trump used bold, creative diplomacy to secure peace deals with our allies across the world. With the same “peace through strength” foreign policy that President Reagan once used to win the Cold War, President Trump rebuilt American deterrence power to hold our adversaries accountable. Perhaps most important, the Trump Administration reversed Washington’s decades-long, bipartisan refusal to confront China over its unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and more. Specifically, the Trump Administration: “Secured a $400 billion increase in defense spending from NATO allies by 2024, as the number of members meeting their minimum financial obligations more than doubled Credited by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for strengthening NATO Worked to reform and streamline the United Nations and reduced spending by $1.3 billion Allies, including Japan and the Republic of Korea, committed to increase burden-sharing Protected our Second Amendment rights by announcing that the United States will never ratify the UN Arms Trade Treaty Returned 56 hostages and detainees from more than 24 countries Worked to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, promoting new investments and expanding American partnerships Advanced peace through strength Withdrew from the one-sided Iran Nuclear Deal and imposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian regime Conducted vigorous enforcement on all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue First president to meet with a leader of North Korea and the first sitting president to cross the demilitarized zone into North Korea Maintained a maximum pressure campaign and enforced tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiating denuclearization, the release of American hostages, and the return of the remains of American heroes Brokered economic normalization between Serbia and Kosovo, bolstering peace in the Balkans Signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and ended the United States’ preferential treatment with Hong Kong to hold China accountable for its infringement on the autonomy of Hong Kong Led allied efforts to defeat the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to control the international telecommunications system Recognized Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and quickly moved the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem Acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law Removed the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias Brokered historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab-Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Sudan Brokered a deal for Kosovo to normalize ties and establish diplomatic relations with Israel Announced that Serbia would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem First American president to address an assembly of leaders from more than 50 Muslim nations, reaching an agreement to fight terrorism in all its forms Established the Etidal Center to combat terrorism in the Middle East in conjunction with the Saudi Arabian government Announced the Vision for Peace Political Plan—a two-state solution that resolves the risks of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security, marking the first time Israel has agreed to a map and a Palestinian state Released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through historic private investment Reversed the previous administration’s Cuba policy, canceling the sellout deal with the Communist Castro dictatorship Pledged not to lift sanctions until all political prisoners are freed, freedoms of assembly and expression are respected, all political parties are legalized, and free elections are scheduled Enacted a new policy aimed at preventing American dollars from funding the Cuban regime, including stricter travel restrictions and restrictions on the importation of Cuban alcohol and tobacco Implemented a cap on remittances to Cuba Enabled Americans to file lawsuits against persons and entities that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban regime First world leader to recognize Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and led a diplomatic coalition against the Socialist Dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Blocked all property of the Venezuelan government in the jurisdiction of the United States Cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime and sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime Brought criminal charges against Nicolas Maduro for his narco-terrorism Imposed stiff sanctions on the Ortega regime in Nicaragua Photo: Trump site