CHINA
The US announced it is prepared to spend almost $100 million in existing funds to assist China and others impacted by the novel coronavirus. The State Department already has facilitated the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to China this past week.
In a written statement Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said this shows the American people are committed to helping the world in times of crisis. Over the last 25 years the United States through USAID has invested over one billion dollars in 25 nations to help prevent, detect, and respond to existing and emerging infectious disease threats.
“Since 2015,” Pompeo wrote, “under our commitment to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), this support has helped improve surveillance and laboratory systems, risk communication, outbreak response, and address the rising threat of anti-microbial resistance.”
VENEZUELA
Special Representative Elliott Abrams, in a briefing updating the media on Secretary of State Pompeo’s meetings in South America, said that Russia may soon find in the coming weeks that its continued support of Venezuela’s Maduro will no longer be cost-free. The country has been the center of a bipartisan effort in Congress and inside the Oval Office to support Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of the Venezuelan people after his election to the post last year. This was reinforced when President Trump invited Guaido to this year’s State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. Guaido sat in the audience and was recognized by President Trump during the event as the rightful leader of the Venezuelan people.
In a further statement on Venezuela, Abrams condemned as cruel and indefensible, the long and unjust detention of all persons who are being detained for political reasons, including National Assembly deputies Juan Requesens, Gilber Caro and Ismael Leon.
“Our message to those nations is that increased and strengthened travel and financial sanctions on key figures in and around the Maduro regime will accelerate their abandonment of the regime and help to end it. But as Treasury always states, when imposing sanctions, sanctions need not be permanent for those who want to contribute to Venezuela’s democratic future,” stated Abrams.
SYRIA
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TAIWAN
The State Department Spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus, said the United States is “deeply concerned” about actions taken by the International Civil Aviation Organization to suppress freedom of expression and curtail important discussion of Taiwan’s legitimate role in international issues. Blocking Twitter users who make reference to Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, noted Ortagus, “particularly given the global response to the coronavirus crisis, is outrageous, unacceptable, and not befitting of a UN organization.” The United States supports Taiwan’s involvement in transnational health issues, and has long supported its active engagement in international venues, including ICAO.
GREAT BRITAIN
In an interview with a British radio station Secretary Pompeo talked openly about Washington’s views on Huawei and the G5 network. Pompeo said he views the “intrusion of the Chinese Communist Party into information technology systems as a very grave risk – a national security risk as well as a core privacy risk.” He added that if one’s health records are on a system that belongs and is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, “that’s not something you’d probably choose in the first instance.”
He said that the US is working with its British partners on the security elements and then working alongside them to develop trusted networks. He ended by saying that “It’s not about Huawei. It’s about ensuring that the information that we put our citizens’ data on is secure and safe.”
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