AFP

The top US and Chinese diplomats met Friday in New York as soaring tensions show signs of easing, but Beijing issued a new warning against support for Taiwan.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shook hands but only exchanged pleasantries before the cameras before sitting down with aides on the sidelines of the annual United Nations summit.

It was their first encounter since extensive talks in July in Bali where both sides appeared optimistic for more stability.

One month later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, infuriating Beijing which staged exercises seen as a trial run for an invasion of the self-governing democracy.

In a sign of smoother ties, Wang also met in New York with US climate envoy John Kerry despite China’s announcement after Pelosi’s visit that it was curbing cooperation on the issue, a key priority for Biden.

Blinken went ahead with the talks despite paring down his schedule following the death of his father on Thursday. Immediately before seeing Wang, he met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and India, the so-called “Quad” which Beijing has denounced as an attempt to isolate it.

“Our four countries know very well the significant challenges that we face, as well as the opportunities that are before us, demand more than ever that we work together,” Blinken said as the ministers signed an agreement on cooperation in disaster relief.

– Taiwan the ‘biggest risk’ –

President Joe Biden in an interview aired Sunday said he was ready to intervene militarily if China uses force in Taiwan, once again deviating from decades of US ambiguity.

In a speech before his talks with Blinken, Wang reiterated anger over US support for Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory.

“The Taiwan question is growing into the biggest risk in China-US relations. Should it be mishandled it is most likely to devastate bilateral ties,” he said at the Asia Society think tank.

“Just as the US will not allow Hawaii to be stripped away, China has the right to uphold the unification of the country,” he said.

He denounced the US decision to “allow” the Taiwan visit by Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president. The Biden administration, while privately concerned about her trip, noted that Congress is a separate branch of government.

But Wang was conciliatory toward Biden. The New York talks are expected to lay the groundwork for a first meeting between Biden and President Xi Jinping since they became their two countries’ leaders, likely in Bali in November on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 economic powers.

Wang said that both Biden and Xi seek to “make the China-US relationship work” and to “steer clear of conflict and confrontation.”

The US Congress is a stronghold of support for Taiwan, a vibrant democracy and major technological power.

Last week a Senate committee took a first step to providing billions of dollars in weapons directly to Taiwan to deter China, a ramp-up from decades of only selling weapons requested by Taipei.

Tensions have also risen over human rights with the United States accusing the communist state of carrying out genocide against the mostly Muslim Uyghur people.

Biden, like his predecessor Donald Trump, has viewed a rising China as the chief global competitor to the United States and vowed to reorient US foreign policy around the challenge.

Russia’s invasion in February of Ukraine quickly diverted the US focus to Europe but also heightened fears that Beijing could make good on years of threats to use force against Taiwan.

Yet US officials have also been heartened that China has shown some distance from Russia, nominally its close ally.

Wang met in New York with Ukraine’s foreign minister for the first time since the war and in a Security Council session Thursday emphasized the need for a ceasefire rather than support for Russia.

US House Republicans unveiled their “Commitment to America” on Friday, as they seek to unite around a message that will set them on the path back to power in the crucial midterm elections.

With just 45 days to go until the nationwide polls that decide who controls Congress, the party’s candidates have been keen to tout a concrete policy agenda beyond simply hammering President Joe Biden.

“We’ve spent the last year and a half — all the Republican members in conference — going throughout the country listening — listening to the challenges, fighting what Democrats have been doing,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said at an event outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“And we want to roll it out to you, to the entire country, to know exactly what we will do.”

The agenda prioritizes the usual conservative staples of the economy, illegal immigration, the opioid crisis, combating crime and increased fossil fuel production — all identified weaknesses for Biden. 

It hits on hot-button issues that have polarized voters, such as transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, in parts reflecting former president Donald Trump’s right-wing “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) agenda.

The Republicans are also focused on Democratic policies in schools, where bitter debates have played out on what many parents see as overzealous mask mandates and on the teaching of racism in America’s history. 

Beyond a brief pledge to “protect the lives of unborn children,” however, it notably steers clear of the Republican goal to more tightly regulate abortion, an issue McCarthy didn’t address in his speech.

It also avoids other issues seen by Democrats as electoral catnip, such as protecting democracy in the wake of the 2021 Capitol insurrection and the global climate crisis. 

– ‘Number one killer’ –

“We’ve watched what’s happened to our border, the millions of people who are just walking across, people on the terrorist watch list,” McCarthy said, leaning into Democrats’ perceived weakness on immigration.

“But now we’re watching it create every community to be a border community. Fentanyl, the number one killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45: the poison starts in China and comes across our border. You realize it’s killing 300 Americans every day?”

McCarthy said the Republicans’ “very first bill” would be to repeal Democratic legislation providing for 87,000 new internal revenue service agents, a move conservatives have characterized as an intrusion into people’s private lives.

The four-part blueprint — focusing on “An economy that’s strong,” “A nation that’s safe,” “A future that’s free” and “A government that’s accountable” — has broad support among Republicans.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is not planning to unveil his agenda ahead of election day on November 8, took to Twitter to praise his House counterpart.

“Less inflation. More law and order. Parents’ rights. Border security. American energy,” he said, summarizing what he saw as the highlights.

The roll-out has drawn comparisons with the Republicans’ 1994 “Contract with America,” which ended decades of Democratic dominance in the House, although it is lighter on specifics. 

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the Republicans’ “whole-hearted commitment” to Trumpism, accusing them of seeking to criminalize women’s health care and threaten democracy.  

“These appalling proposals have long been advanced by right-wing politicians and are widely supported by the dark money special interests who call the shots in the (Republican Party),” she said in a statement.

“But this extreme MAGA agenda is way out of step with Americans’ priorities, who align with Democrats’ vision of putting people over politics: with lower costs, better-paying jobs and safer communities.”

Voting on whether Russia should annex Kremlin-controlled regions of Ukraine opened Friday as the West denounced the referendum that has dramatically raised the stakes of Moscow’s seven-month invasion.

As polling got underway, Ukrainian forces said they were clawing back territory from the Moscow-backed separatists, contesting territory the Kremlin seeks to control.

The votes in four regions are the latest shock development in a ferocious war that UN investigators said had seen violence — like executions and torture — that amounted to war crimes.

The referendums in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have been dismissed as a “sham” by Kyiv’s Western allies.

And even diplomats from Russia’s closest ally since the war began, Beijing, told Ukraine that the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected”.

Authorities in the Russian-controlled regions are going door-to-door for four days to collect votes. Polling stations then open Tuesday for residents to cast ballots on the final day of voting. 

It was also possible to vote at the building in Moscow that represents the Donetsk breakaway region. 

Leonid, a 59-year-old military official, told AFP he was “feeling happy”. 

“Ultimately, things are moving towards the restoration of the Soviet Union. The referendum is one step towards this,” he said.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces seized back most of the north-eastern Kharkiv region in a huge counter-offensive that has seen Kyiv retake hundreds of settlements that had been under Russian control for months.

On Friday, Russian news agency TASS showed officials in Donetsk alerting residents to the polls by loudspeaker, surrounding one local as he voted.

– ‘Sham’ –

Denis Pushilin, a pro-Russian separatist leader in the Donetsk region — part of the industrial Donbas region — said on Telegram that “Donbas is Russia”.

Kyiv said Friday its forces had recaptured a village in the Donetsk region and taken back positions south of the war-scarred town of Bakhmut.

The four regions’ integration into Russia — which for most observers is a foregone conclusion — would represent a major escalation of the conflict.

“We cannot — we will not — allow (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to get away with it,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the UN Security Council on Thursday, condemning the referendums as a “sham”.

The referendums are reminiscent of Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014. Western capitals maintain that a similar vote then was fraudulent and hit Moscow with sanctions.

– Paper ballots –

In Donetsk and Lugansk — which Putin already recognised as independent before invading Ukraine in February — residents are answering if they support their “republic’s entry into Russia”, TASS reported.

Ballots in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia ask the question: “Are you in favour of secession from Ukraine, formation of an independent state by the region and its joining the Russian Federation as a subject of the Russian Federation?”

Russian news agencies reported voting began on Friday at 0500 GMT while TASS reported paper ballots would be used to save time.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the referendums as a “farce”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meanwhile met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba at the UN and told him the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected,” the ministry in Beijing said in a statement. 

UN investigators said Friday that war crimes have been committed in the Ukraine conflict, listing Russian bombings of civilian areas, numerous executions, torture and horrific sexual violence.

Erik Mose, who has led a team of investigators set up in March, said they were “struck by the large number of executions”.

Putin said Moscow would use “all means” to protect its territory — which former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said on social media could include the use of “strategic nuclear weapons”. 

Moscow began its mandatory troop call-up on Thursday after Putin called for about 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort.

– ‘Don’t want to die’ –

But men were leaving Russia in droves before they were made to join, with flights to neighbouring countries booked up for days to come.

Some have not been able to avoid the summons.

Mikhail Suetin, 29, was among those detained at an anti-mobilisation protest in Moscow this week and was handed a summons to appear at a recruitment office.

“To be told ‘tomorrow you will go to war’… that was a surprise,” 29-year-old Suetin, who regularly joins opposition protests in Moscow, told AFP.

burs/gw