Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

CHINA

The US is deeply concerned about the rapid expansion of the China’s nuclear capabilities, including its development of novel delivery systems, according to Price. “These developments underscore that the PRC, as we’ve said before, is deviating from its decades-long nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence,” he noted.

As of the end of September has launched at least 250 ballistic missiles this year. The latest test is of a hypersonic missile that circled the globe before landing near its target. Price said that “All of this is concerning, especially concerning, I should say, given the PRC’s lack of transparency into its evolving nuclear posture. And this nuclear buildup just, in our view, reinforces the importance of pursuing practical measures with the PRC to reduce nuclear risk.’ The Biden Administration has reached out to Beijing, he added, to make it clear Washington is interested in engaging with Beijing in the context of these powerful weapons and weapons systems.

HONG KONG

The United States remains seriously concerned at the continued erosion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including political participation, in Hong Kong. Recently, there has been an increase in politically-motivated prosecutions, including through the National Security Law, targeting Hong Kong’s teachers, labor unions, lawyers, journalists, health care workers, student unions, and individual citizens. Ned Price, Spokesman for the State Department stated that the is calling on the “Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to release those unjustly detained and cease their crackdown on peaceful civil society organizations.”

Hong Kong authorities continue to disqualify scores of pro-democracy district councilors, who received their public mandate from free and fair elections in 2019. He pointed out that these retroactive and targeted disqualifications, based on the Hong Kong authorities’ arbitrary determination that these district councilors’ loyalty oaths are invalid, prevent people in Hong Kong from participating meaningfully in their own governance. Chinese President Xi Jinping has increased its harsh treatment of Hong Kong amid increasing tensions across the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea.

EUROPEAN UNION

Secretary of State Tony Blinken and High Representative Borrell of the EU recently met and agreed to further strengthen their joint engagement in the Western Balkans in support of the region’s progress on its European path. In a statement issued by the State Department this week, Blinken said “We underscore our full support for the EU’s enlargement process. EU accession, a stated priority for the whole Western Balkans, helps consolidate democratic institutions, protect fundamental rights, and advance the rule of law. This region belongs in the European Union.” From a US perspective, closer integration will enhance stability and contribute to prosperity for the people of the region. In contrast, Moscow sees this as further evidence of Western intrusion into its sphere of influence and an increase in, and direct threat to, its national security.

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EQUADOR

Secretary Blinken traveled to Equador this past week to talk with its US partners about what the Biden Administration calls the listening tour of its “Build Back Better World Program” to make investments, particularly in climate-resilient infrastructure projects, with high environmental as well as labor standards. Blinken says “That’s going to create jobs, it’s going to support local communities, it’s going to make progress against the climate crisis – all at the same time.”

NORTH KOREA

The US is continuing to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. US Special Representative Kim emphasized Washington’s condemnation of the DPRK’s October 19 ballistic missile launch, which violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and called on the DPRK to refrain from further provocations and engage in sustained and substantive dialogue. Kim again expressed the United States’ support for providing humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable North Koreans.

IRAN

Frustration continues between reporters and the State Department. When questioned by a reporter at a press briefing this week about the status of the JCPOA, State Department Spokesman Price said the US is neither optimistic, nor pessimistic. To clarify the issue, he added: “We are taking into account precisely what we are hearing from the Iranians, what we are not hearing from the Iranians, what we are seeing from the Iranians, what we are not seeing from the Iranians.” Price added that the US is “in the midst of – in the midst of watching closely as the Iranians, it seems, form their own consensus as to what path they would like to choose.” Perhaps, this is as clear the Biden Administration can get?

Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. during the Reagan Administration.

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay