Chuyên mục: US foreign policy

The Mekong-U.S. Partnership: The Mekong Region Deserves Good Partners

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Press Statement

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

September 14, 2020

The launch of the Mekong-U.S. Partnership reflects the importance of the Mekong region to the United States. Our relationship with Mekong partner countries is an integral part of our Indo-Pacific vision and our strategic partnership with ASEAN. With more than $150 million in initial investments in regional programs, we will build on the good work of the Lower Mekong Initiative and the $3.5 billion in regional U.S. assistance during the last eleven years. Tiếp tục đọc “The Mekong-U.S. Partnership: The Mekong Region Deserves Good Partners” →

USCG Releases New Plan to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

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TĐH: with a focus on China

Posted on  by Seapower Staff

A boarding team from the USCGC Sequoia (WLB 215) approaches a Taiwanese fishing vessel in the Pacific Ocean, March 13, 2020. The crew undertook a fisheries patrol as part of joint efforts for Operation Rai Balang under the Forum Fisheries Agency. U.S. Coast Guard / USCGC Sequoia

WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard has released a new strategy to enhance global safety, security, and stewardship of the maritime domain by combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, Coast Guard Headquarters said in a Sept. 17 release. 

Tiếp tục đọc “USCG Releases New Plan to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing” →

HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THE NEW U.S. SOUTH CHINA SEA POLICY?

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BY GREGORY POLING | JULY 14, 2020
AMTI UPDATE

Yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced an important shift in U.S. declaratory policy on the South China Sea. This morning, Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell elaborated further during remarks at CSIS’s annual South China Sea Conference. The press statement from Pompeo listed specific Chinese maritime claims the United States considers illegal. The statement marks a significant clarification of prior U.S. positions but not a radical break from past policy. It makes explicit things that had been implied by previous administrations. And in that it sets the stage for more effective diplomatic messaging and stronger responses to China’s harassment of its neighbors. U.S. partners and allies in the region were seemingly briefed in advance—the Philippine defense secretary, for instance, was ready with a positive statement within hours. And the new policy sparked excited, and often hyperbolic, coverage in the press and social media.

Tiếp tục đọc “HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THE NEW U.S. SOUTH CHINA SEA POLICY?” →

Spokesperson confirms Vietnam’s stance in East Sea issue

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 21:37 | 15/07/2020 Hannah Nguyen , Vietnam Times

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang confirmed Vietnam’s stance, at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on July 15, concerning Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Declaration on the US Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea (known as East Sea in Vietnam).

US rejects nearly all Chinese claims to territory in South China Sea

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 09:14 | 14/07/2020 Tony Nguyen , Vietnam Times

Secretary of United State Mike Pompeo on Monday announced a formal rejection of “most” of China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea, marking the turning point as Washington officially directs to Beijing’s ambition to assert control in the strategic waters.

us secretary of state pompeo criticizes chinese bullying in regional waters US Secretary of State Pompeo criticizes Chinese ‘bullying’ in regional waters
international opinions regarding south china sea dispute at asean regional security conference International opinions regarding South China Sea dispute at ASEAN regional security conference
chinas simultaneous drills in 3 asia seas while threatening that beijing has many anti aircraft carrier weapons China’s simultaneous drills in 3 Asia seas while threatening that “Beijing has many anti-aircraft carrier weapons”
us rejects nearly all chinese claims to territory in south china sea
Chinese maritime claims outside its internationally recognized waters are illegitimate. Photo: Andy Wong/AP

Accordingly, the administration presented the decision as an attempt to curb China’s increasing assertiveness in the region with a commitment to recognizing international law. But it will almost certainly have the more immediate effect of further infuriating the Chinese, who are already retaliating against numerous U.S. sanctions and other penalties on other matters.The Trump administration escalated its actions against China on Monday by stepping squarely into one of the most sensitive regional issues dividing them and rejecting outright nearly all of Beijing’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea, reported Military Times. Tiếp tục đọc “US rejects nearly all Chinese claims to territory in South China Sea” →

What Does a Second Aircraft Carrier Visit Mean for US-Vietnam Relations?

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A closer look at the significance of a development that has long been in the works.

Prashanth Parameswaran By Prashanth Parameswaran March 04, 2020 The Dilplomat
What Does a Second Aircraft Carrier Visit Mean for US-Vietnam Relations?
A previous photo of U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam. Credit: FlickrThis week, a U.S. aircraft carrier will make a port call in Vietnam’s coastal city of Da Nang – just the second visit of its kind since the end of the Vietnam War, following the first in early 2018. Though the move has long been in the works and is just a single engagement, it nonetheless bears noting given its significance for U.S.-Vietnam ties and Washington’s regional approach more generally. Tiếp tục đọc “What Does a Second Aircraft Carrier Visit Mean for US-Vietnam Relations?” →

The Liberal Embrace of War

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Rolling Stone

American interventionists learned a lesson from Iraq: pre-empt the debate. Now everyone is for regime change

By Matt Taibbi

The United States has just suspended flights to Venezuela. Per the New York Times:

CARACAS — The United States banned all air transport with Venezuela on Wednesday over security concerns, further isolating the troubled South American nation…

A disinterested historian — Herodotus raised from the dead — would see this as just the latest volley in a siege tale. America has been trying for ages to topple the regime of President Nicholas Maduro, after trying for years to do the same to his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Tiếp tục đọc “The Liberal Embrace of War” →

A Rising China Is Driving the U.S. Army’s New Game Plan in the Pacific

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New missiles and large-scale exercises part of long-term strategy to deter Beijing.

BY

| FP

Idaho Army National Guard and Montana Army National Guard Soldiers from the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team conduct a live-fire exercise with Royal Thai Army Soldiers at the Cavalry Center in Thailand’s Saraburi province on Aug. 28, 2018. (Department of Defense Photo)

Idaho Army National Guard and Montana Army National Guard Soldiers from the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team conduct a live-fire exercise with Royal Thai Army Soldiers at the Cavalry Center in Thailand’s Saraburi province on Aug. 28, 2018. (Department of Defense Photo)

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii—As an organization based solidly on dry land, the U.S. Army’s increasing focus on the Pacific might seem puzzling to some.

But with China continuing to expand its military, building islands in the South China Sea, and spreading fear among neighbors, the Army wants to up its game in the region with more firepower and additional rotations of U.S. troops—not only to reassure key U.S. allies such as Japan, South Korea, and Thailand that the United States has their back, but also to prevent a potential war.

“China is the priority,” said Gen. Robert Brown, U.S. Army Pacific commander, during a March 19 roundtable with a handful of reporters at Fort Shafter in Hawaii. Tiếp tục đọc “A Rising China Is Driving the U.S. Army’s New Game Plan in the Pacific” →

US denying visas to International Criminal Court staff

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Jennifer Hansler

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

Updated 6:13 PM ET, Fri March 15, 2019

Washington (CNN) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the US will deny or revoke visas for International Criminal Court staff.

The move is meant to deter a potential investigation by the judicial body into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by US troops in Afghanistan.

Pompeo, speaking from the State Department Friday, said the restrictions include “persons who take or have taken action to request or further such an investigation.” He said the policy had already taken effect, but declined to say who had been restricted or would face future restrictions. Tiếp tục đọc “US denying visas to International Criminal Court staff” →

Report: Kim Jong Un could tour Vietnam ahead of summit with Trump

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UPI FEB. 13, 2019 / 10:33 AM

By Elizabeth Shim

Kim Jong Un could arrive in Vietnam days ahead of President Donald Trump, according to a South Korean press report. File Photo by KCNA/UPI | License Photo
Feb. 13 (UPI) — Kim Jong Un could arrive in Vietnam three days before his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, according to a South Korean press report.

Kim, who last met with Trump in Singapore in 2018, could be traveling to Vietnam ahead of schedule in order to visit key industrial sites in Vietnam and hold a summit with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, South Korean television network MBC reported. Tiếp tục đọc “Report: Kim Jong Un could tour Vietnam ahead of summit with Trump” →

How the War Party Lost the Middle East

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The American Conservative
January 01, 2019

By Patrick Buchanan

 
“Assad must go, Obama says.”

So read the headline in The Washington Post, Aug. 18, 2011.

The story quoted President Barack Obama directly:

“The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way. … the time has come for President Assad to step aside.”

France’s Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain’s David Cameron signed on to the Obama ultimatum: Assad must go! Tiếp tục đọc “How the War Party Lost the Middle East” →

7 Reasons U.S. Should Not Ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

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Heritage Foundation

Jun 4th, 2018 5 min read

Commentary By

Theodore R. Bromund, Ph.D.@Bromund

Senior Research Fellow in Anglo-American Relations

James Jay Carafano@JJCarafano

Vice President, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute

Brett D. Schaefer

Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea requires that coastal nations pay royalties on their seabed resources to landlocked and developing countries.mizoula/Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

U.S. accession would provide no benefits not already available to the U.S., while creating unnecessary burdens and risks.

The U.S. does not need to join the convention in order to access oil and gas resources on its extended continental shelf, in the Arctic, or in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite subsequent changes in 1994 that led the Clinton administration to support U.S. accession, the Trump administration should oppose accession to this treaty.

 
President Donald Trump recently proclaimed June 2018 to be National Ocean Month and stated his support for better utilizing the vast resources contained in America’s Exclusive Economic Zone, the 200-nautical mile zone off U.S. coasts over which the U.S. has jurisdiction. Tiếp tục đọc “7 Reasons U.S. Should Not Ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea” →

Donald Trump’s Attorney And Fixer Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty To 8 Federal Counts

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Heard on Morning Edition

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Trump, leaves his apartment building in New York City on Tuesday.  Richard Drew/AP

Updated at 7:03 p.m. ET

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, has pleaded guilty to eight counts in federal court in New York, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday evening.

They include five counts of tax evasion, one count of falsifying submissions to a bank and two counts involving unlawful campaign contributions.

Cohen’s conduct “reflects a pattern of lies and dishonesty over a significant period of time,” said Robert Khuzami, deputy U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan. Tiếp tục đọc “Donald Trump’s Attorney And Fixer Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty To 8 Federal Counts” →