"On Taiwan, what we have seen over the last few years is, I think, China made a decision that it was no longer comfortable with the status quo, a status quo that had prevailed for decades, ...
... that had actually been successful in terms of the relationship between our countries and managing what is a difficult situation," the Secretary of State said.
"We have seen them, over the last few years... ratchet up the pressure on Taiwan, military pressure, economic pressure, trying to cut off its ties to countries around the world, to international organisations," he said.
From America's perspective, that status quo has worked and it is vital to what is important to the U.S., which is maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, he added.
"Every country in the world has an interest in making sure that peace and stability remain in the strait and that differences are resolved peacefully, not through pressure, not through coercion, and certainly not through the use of force," he said in response to a question.
Mr. Blinken is scheduled to travel to Beijing next month.
"We're in a competition. We have, I think, a moment in time, which we can also talk about, where we're no longer in the post-Cold War era. There's a competition to shape what comes next," he said.
"China is a leading competitor and in many ways, the vision that they have for what the world should be and where it should go is not the same as the one we have.
But competition is one thing, conflict is another. It is strongly in our interest to make sure that even as we compete very, very vigorously, we avoid... veering into conflict," he said.
"One of the ways you do that is making sure that you actually have good lines of communication, that you are talking, that you are engaging, that you are putting some guardrails on the relationship, that you are putting a floor underneath it.
That's what the President (Biden) and President Xi were doing in Bali," Mr. Biden said.
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Japanese photographer @kisekimichiko had been planning to celebrate the 2023 new year countdown in Hong Kong, but upon landing in the former British colony, Kiseki was denied entry by the immigration authorities and forced to return to Japan on December 30.
In a thread on Twitter, Kiseki said the police repeatedly asked her questions about a photo exhibition she organized in Japan featuring her photography works on the 2019 anti-extradition bill protest in Hong Kong.
By @wingcommander1: "For decades Japan has been struggling with a sluggish economy, held back by a deep resistance to change and a stubborn attachment to the past. Now, its population is both ageing and shrinking.
"Think of Japan's sleek bullet trains, or Toyota's "just-in-time" marvel of assembly-line manufacturing - and you could be forgiven for thinking Japan is a poster child for efficiency. It is not.
Rather the bureaucracy can be terrifying, while huge amounts of public money are spent on activities of dubious utility."
“Australia will make its first major investment in sea mines since the Vietnam War, spending up to $1 billion on high-tech underwater weapons to deter #China and other potential adversaries from sending ships and submarines into the nation’s waters.” amp.smh.com.au/politics/feder…
Defence industry sources said the federal government would soon announce it had signed a contract to purchase a substantial number of sea mines from a European weapons supplier.
The Defence Department, sources said, intends to procure a sophisticated form of multi-influence ground mines that react to acoustic, magnetic and pressure influences of passing vessels. They can be laid on the ocean floor by ship, submarine or from the air.
“#China is trying urgently to address its declining population. One idea is to subsidize assisted fertility procedures, which are often a last resort for couples and out of reach for many.” nytimes.com/2023/01/22/bus…
“If the transplant is not successful, all the money we spent will be wasted, all the pain I endured will be wasted, and we will have to start over again,” said Ms. Guo, who had traveled 125 miles to Beijing from the northern city of Zhangjiakou.
“She and her husband had been living in hotels to be near the hospital for a month during the final stage of the in vitro fertilization process.
From #China’s Wuhan: “But while many stock up on colourful flowers to celebrate the Spring Festival and the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, others have a more sombre reason: To mourn loved ones lost to COVID-19 in the recent wave.” channelnewsasia.com/asia/china-wuh…
"I have friends and family who passed away during this time," 54-year-old Mr Zhang told AFP clutching a bunch of chrysanthemums, which symbolise grief in Chinese culture.
Zhang, who did not give his full name, explained that the New Year's Eve custom in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, is to visit the homes of people who recently died to offer flowers and burn incense.
“She is among the most influential foreign ambassadors in Washington, but she’s technically not an ambassador. She works from a grand estate, but cannot live there. Simply flying her flag could cause a diplomatic incident.
She speaks almost daily with senior Biden administration officials and is wired into leaders of both parties in Congress.”