The Under Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, affirmed that “war is potentially possible” between the United States and China, due to the absolute control that Xi Jinping has.
“I think that the war it is potentially possible, because Xi Jinping now has absolute control in China,” Sherman said last week at an event in Washington, DC
In this regard, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was questioned in an interview on CBS News this Sunday, where he made certain clarifications.
“We are in intense competition with China. And, of course, there is nothing wrong with the competition itself, as long as it is fair and on a level playing field,” Blinken said.
“We are working with countries around the world to build a convergence in the approach towards China, which I have seen become very strong in Europe, in Asia”, he explained.
He recognized that President Joe Biden seeks to guarantee competition with China, without this meaning a greater conflict.
“The president has a strong determination to ensure that competition does not turn into conflict,” Blinken said. “That is one of the reasons why he spent three hours with Xi Jinping in Indonesia during the G
Despite the clarification, the interviewer Margaret Brennan insisted to Secretary Blinken on the statements of Undersecretary Sherman, but he limited the need to avoid this potential “conflict”.
“The determination we have is to make sure that the competition doesn’t get sidetracked into conflict,” Blinken said.
“That’s exactly what you’re doing President Biden: strongly defend our interests and values, work with other countries that are in a similar situation to promote them, making sure that we keep contacts open, keeping the dialogue open,” he explained.
The Sherman’s statements came a few days after the Department of Defense reported that China has doubled its nuclear warheads.