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China-Russia cooperation might be Biden’s greatest problem

China-Russia cooperation could be Biden's biggest challenge

ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 7 JUNE 2019: China’s President Xi Jinping (L) and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at a plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg 2019 International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Sergei Bobylev | TASS | Getty Images

President Joe Biden faces a nightmare scenario of global consequence: intensified Sino-Russian strategic cooperation to undermine US influence and strengthen Biden’s efforts to rally democratic allies.

It is the most significant and least recognized test of Biden’s leadership to date: it could be the defining challenge of his presidency.

Over the past week, Russia and China have simultaneously escalated their separate military activities and threats to the sovereignty of Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively – countries whose living independence is an affront to Moscow and Beijing but at the center of the interests of the US and its allies in theirs Regions stands.

Even if the actions of Moscow and Beijing do not lead to a military invasion of either country, and most experts still consider this unlikely, the scale and intensity of the military measures require immediate attention. US and Allied officials dare not deny the certainty that Russia and China are exchanging information or the growing likelihood that they will increasingly coordinate actions and strategies.

“The [Russian] The build has reached the point where it could provide the basis for a limited military incursion, “Central Intelligence Agency director William J. Burns told the Senate Intelligence Committee this week. Allies must take it very seriously.”

Regarding China, the secret services’ annual US threat assessment states: “China is trying to exploit doubts about US commitment to the region, undermining Taiwan’s democracy and expanding Beijing’s influence.” A warning of “Russia’s growing strategic cooperation with China – to achieve its goals” was lost in media coverage of the report.

Viewed independently, the challenges in China and Russia would be a handful for any US president. Should China and Russia act more coherently and coherently and you should have a narrative that is more consistent than the plot of a Tom Clancy novel. It is a scenario for which the US and its allies lack a strategy or even a common understanding.

For anyone who has doubts about Sino-Russian ambitions, the Global Times is one of my favorite places to read Chinese tea leaves, often a mouthpiece for Beijing’s leadership. In an editorial late last month, under the headline “China-Russia Relations Deepen as the US and Its Allies Fight”, he wrote: “The most influential bilateral relationship in Eurasia is China-Russia’s broad strategic coordination partnership for a new one Era.”

In a barely veiled warning to Japan and South Korea, it says: “China and Russia understand the weight of their relationship … To be honest, no country in the region can stand alone against China or Russia, let alone fight against the powers that be at the same time. It would be disastrous for any country that tends to confront China and Russia by forming an alliance with the US. “

Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who was asked last October about the possibility of a formal military alliance with China, said: “In theory it is entirely possible.”

In any case, there is nothing theoretical about the military escalations in Ukraine and Taiwan.

Last week, Russia amassed the largest concentration of troops along the Ukrainian border since annexing Crimea in 2014. According to Ukrainian government officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin has brought more than 40,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s eastern border to conduct “combat training exercises” over a border period of two weeks.

At the same time, China has taken its military overflights into Taiwan’s air defense zone to unprecedented levels after flying more than 250 sorties near the island this year. The Chinese military sent 25 fighter jets to Taiwan last Monday, a record high since Taiwan announced figures last year.

The Biden government responded to Putin this week with the carrot of a summit and the rod of new sanctions. On Tuesday, Biden called Putin signaling that he would not try to escalate tensions with the leader, whom he had agreed to be a “killer” just a month ago.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stood next to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as they condemned Russia’s military build-up. The Biden government’s strongest reprimand came Thursday when it announced new economic sanctions against 38 Russian entities accused of electoral disruption and cyberattacks, expelled ten diplomats, and introduced measures to keep U.S. financial institutions trading in newly issued Russian government bonds and bonds prohibited.

China’s raids on Taiwan came soon after the State Department issued guidelines relaxing the rules for US government officials working with Taiwan. Blinken said the government is concerned about China’s “increasingly aggressive actions” and is committed to ensuring that Taiwan “has the ability to defend itself.” The United States demonstrated its support for Taiwan on Wednesday by sending an unofficial delegation consisting of a former US Senator and two former US Assistant Secretary of State to Taiwan.

This unfolding great power drama couldn’t come at a worse time for the Biden government, whose officials won’t reach their 100-day term until April 30. However, this is likely the point for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping as they try to gain an edge before Biden can move to a safer post by reviewing policy and filling senior leadership positions.

These real events also complicate the Biden administration’s carefully crafted plans to methodically order its actions, and reasonably argue that US renewal is a prerequisite for effective global governance.

Biden’s goal is to suppress Covid-19 through accelerated vaccine distribution, increase economic dynamism and competitiveness through $ 4 trillion in stimulus and infrastructure spending, and restore relationships with key allies, a goal that Biden’s meetings with the Japanese Prime Minister Suga this week reflected Yoshihide.

The Biden administration faces a number of other foreign policy challenges at the same time, from the president’s announcement this week to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, to efforts to keep nuclear talks with Iran despite the attack to resume facility on Tehran’s nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz last Sunday.

That’s a lot that every new president has to deal with. However, how skillfully Biden approaches the combined, growing challenge from Russia and China will shape our era.

Frederick Kempe is a best-selling author, award-winning journalist, and President and CEO of the Atlantic Council, one of America’s most influential think tanks on global affairs. He worked for the Wall Street Journal for more than 25 years as foreign correspondent, assistant editor-in-chief and senior editor for the European edition of the newspaper. His latest book – “Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place in the World” – was a New York Times bestseller and was published in more than a dozen languages. Follow him on Twitter @FredKempe and subscribe here to Inflection Points, his view every Saturday of the top stories and trends of the past week.

More information from CNBC staff can be found here @ CNBCopinion on twitter.

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Business

N.Y. Seeks Trump Insider’s Data, in Obvious Bid to Achieve Cooperation

N.Y. Seeks Trump Insider’s Records, in Apparent Bid to Gain Cooperation

Manhattan prosecutors investigating former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization have cited the personal banking records of the company’s chief financial officer, questioning gifts he and his family received from Mr. Trump.

Over the past few weeks, prosecutors have trained their focus on the executive Allen H. Weisselberg in what appears to be a determined effort to win his collaboration. Accused of no wrongdoing, Mr Weisselberg has overseen the Trump organization’s finances for decades and could hold the key to a possible criminal case in New York against the former president and his family business.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. is investigating, among other things, whether Mr. Trump and the company falsely tampered with property values ​​for credit and tax breaks.

It is unclear whether Mr. Weisselberg would cooperate with the investigation and neither his attorney, Mary E. Mulligan, nor Mr. Vance’s office would comment. However, should a review of his personal finances reveal possible misconduct, prosecutors could use this information to urge Mr. Weisselberg to take them through the inner workings of the company. The 73-year-old accountant began his career with Mr. Trump’s father.

Regardless, prosecutors are demanding a new round of internal documents from the Trump Organization, including ledgers of several of its more than two dozen properties that the company failed to turn over in the past year, according to knowledgeable people. who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

The ledgers provide a line-by-line breakdown of each property’s financial health, including daily earnings, checks, and receipts. Prosecutors could compare this information with the information the company provided to its lenders and local tax authorities to determine if it fraudulently misled them.

Mr. Vance’s office has also cited records from several banks that Mr. Trump or his company had accounts with, including JPMorgan Chase and Capital One, according to people with knowledge of subpoenas issued at the banks.

The previously unreported developments underscore the escalation of the investigation after Mr Vance’s office received Mr Trump’s tax filings and other underlying financial documents in February. You were released on Mr. Trump’s objections after a protracted legal battle that culminated in a ruling by the United States Supreme Court.

The Trump organization declined to comment. In the past, Republican Trump has denied any wrongdoing and described the investigation as a longstanding and politically motivated “fishing expedition”. Mr Vance, a Democrat, recently announced that he was not seeking re-election.

The investigation focused on some of Mr. Trump’s best-known properties: the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the Trump Hotels in New York and Chicago, and the Seven Springs Estate in Westchester County. In addition to potential tax and bank fraud, prosecutors are examining statements made by the Trump Organization to insurance companies about the value of various assets.

Prosecutors have cited documents from a company hired by Deutsche Bank, one of the former president’s main lenders, to assess the value of three Trump hotels on Deutsche Bank loans. The company was reviewing the operation of restaurants, bars and gift shops in the hotels, said one respondent.

Last year, prosecutors summoned Deutsche Bank itself and Mr Trump’s other major lender, Ladder Capital, who sold its loans to the Trump Organization years ago. Both banks work together with the prosecutors.

It is unclear whether the prosecution will ultimately bring charges. However, if a case were created against the Trump organization based on the loan records, the company’s lawyers could argue that Deutsche Bank and Ladder Capital are sophisticated financial institutions that have done their own analysis of Mr Trump’s real estate without themselves relying on the company’s internal reviews. The attorneys could also emphasize that it is customary and appropriate in the New York real estate industry to make different valuations of a property depending on the situation – for example, when applying for a loan or when challenging local property taxes – also because there are different methods of calculating Property values.

Your questions about Donald Trump’s taxes answered

Has Donald Trump implemented his taxes?What are investigators looking for?Will the public ever know what’s in Mr. Trump’s taxes?What’s next?

If the prosecutor were to indict Mr Trump – far from certain – the outcome would be the potential criminal case against a former president. For his part, Mr. Trump dismissed the investigation as a politically motivated “fishing expedition” and vowed to “keep fighting”.

External accountants also review the information provided to local tax authorities, which may reduce the likelihood of fraud. Mr Trump has argued that his tax returns were “filed by one of the largest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the United States”.

In addition to the fraud investigation, Mr. Vance’s office remains focused on his original objective: the role of the Trump Organization in paying hush money during the 2016 presidential campaign to two women who said they did business with Mr. Trump.

Former Mr. Trump personal attorney and fixer Michael D. Cohen paid $ 130,000 to buy the silence of one of the women, Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic film actress who appeared as Stormy Daniels. The Trump Organization later made a refund to Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Vance’s office has verified that the company has properly recorded the $ 130,000 payment.

Mr Cohen, who pleaded guilty to collecting federal campaign funding fees in 2018 for his role in the hush-money system, has long implicated Mr Weisselberg, claiming that he helped develop a reimbursement masking strategy. The federal prosecutor who charged Mr. Cohen did not accuse Mr. Weisselberg of wrongdoing.

Mr Cohen is now cooperating with Mr Vance’s investigation and has met with prosecutors several times, including to review some of Mr Trump’s financial documents. Lanny Davis, an attorney for Mr. Cohen, declined to comment.

The prosecutor also questioned Mr. Weisselberg’s former daughter-in-law, Jennifer Weisselberg, she said. Ms. Weisselberg got involved in a bitter divorce from Mr. Weisselberg’s son Barry, who manages the Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Ms. Weisselberg said in an interview that prosecutors asked her about a number of gifts Mr. Trump and his company gave to the Weisselberg family over the years. These include an apartment in Central Park South for Mrs. Weisselberg and her ex-husband, cars rented for several family members, and private schooling.

Examining the gifts appears to be part of an effort to paint a picture of Mr. Weisselberg’s financial life, as is common when prosecutors seek the cooperation of a potential witness. It is unclear whether prosecutors suspect wrongdoing related to the gifts.

James B. Stewart and Steve Eder contributed to the coverage. Susan C. Beachy contributed to the research.

Categories
World News

World leaders name for extra cooperation

World leaders call for more cooperation

A staff member checks information about a woman who has just finished quarantine at a quarantine center on March 16, 2020 in Shanghai, China.

China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images

World leaders on Tuesday jointly called for a pandemic treaty, arguing that the Covid-19 crisis represented the “greatest challenge facing the global community since the late 1940s”.

The joint letter, published in newspapers around the world, was signed by more than 20 global leaders and representatives from Europe, Africa, South Africa and Asia, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Today, as we are together in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, we are equally united in the hope that we can build a more robust international health architecture that provides better protection for future generations,” the signatories said.

“There will also be pandemics and other major health crises in the future. No national government or multilateral organization can face such a threat alone. It is only a matter of when the time comes.”

The Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as well as the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, one of the first officials to call for an international agreement to combat future pandemics, also signed the letter.

They will make one more comment on a possible contract at a WHO press conference Tuesday morning before WHO awaits its joint investigation with China into the causes of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is widely expected to deliver the first results recently presented repeated month.

In February, the WHO and China team of experts reported that the coronavirus “most likely” came from animals before it spread to humans, rejecting the theory that the disease had leaked from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

However, there were unanswered questions about whether the team was able to fully investigate the matter in the face of delays in the investigation (the WHO-led team of experts traveled to China in early 2021, more than a year after the pandemic first emerged) and China’s acute sensitivity to the pandemic.

Beijing has denied allegations of withholding information and was slow to warn global health officials of the new coronavirus when it emerged and vehemently denied that it was responsible for the initial outbreak that severely damaged and nearly killed the global economy so far 2 , 8 million people.

According to a draft copy received from The Associated Press, the conclusion of the joint WHO-China study, due to be released later Tuesday, will reiterate initial findings that the virus was most likely from animals and suggest further research on each scenario – except for the laboratory leak hypothesis.

Need for more transparency

Transparency, or a lack of it, has been a persistent flaw throughout the coronavirus pandemic, a global health crisis for which few governments seemed prepared. The UK has already announced that it will set up a new health security agency to ensure the country is prepared for future pandemics. The lack of international coordination during the pandemic also appears grave, with vaccine delivery and distribution being the most recent source of sharpness between countries, particularly between the EU and the UK

International leaders now calling for an international pandemic treaty say the deal’s main objective is “to promote a nationwide and societal approach that strengthens national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics”.

The proposed system would provide for increased international cooperation to improve alert systems, data and research sharing, and “local, regional and global development and distribution of medical and public health measures such as vaccines” . Medicines, diagnostics and personal protective equipment. “

Perhaps just as importantly, the treaty would aim to promote “more transparency, cooperation and accountability” among the signatories, the heads of state and government hope.

“Such a treaty would lead to more mutual accountability and responsibility, transparency and cooperation in the international system according to its rules and norms,” ​​they said.

“To achieve this, we will work with world leaders and all stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector. We believe that, as leaders and leaders of international institutions, we have a responsibility to ensure that the World is learning the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic. “

The Industrialized Nations Group of Seven (G-7) is expected to further investigate the idea of ​​the pandemic treaty at a summit in Cornwall, UK in June.

Categories
Politics

Biden accuses Trump’s Pentagon and OMB of obstruction, calls for cooperation

Biden accuses Trump's Pentagon and OMB of obstruction, demands cooperation

President-elect Joe Biden said Monday his transition team had encountered “roadblocks” and “obstacles” among the heads of the Trump administration at key agencies, hampering the new administration’s efforts to prepare for the presidency.

But one of those agency chiefs, incumbent Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, pushed back Biden’s criticism and highlighted the recent dispute between President Donald Trump’s Pentagon and the President-elect.

“The truth is that many of the agencies vital to our security have suffered tremendous damage,” Biden said during a speech in Delaware after briefing from his national security and foreign policy agency review teams.

“Many of them have been undermined in terms of human resources, capacity and morale. Political processes have stunted or stopped,” he said.

Biden, who will take office in less than a month, highlighted the Department of Defense and the Office of Administration and Budget in his speech.

“Our team has received exemplary cooperation from some agencies,” said Biden. “We have encountered obstacles from the political leadership of that ministry from others, particularly the Ministry of Defense.”

He later added, “We have encountered obstacles from the political leadership in the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Administration and Budget. At the moment we are simply not getting all of the information we need from the outgoing administration for key national security areas.”

“In my opinion it’s nothing less than irresponsibility,” said Biden.

In a statement later Monday, incumbent defense chief Miller defended his agency’s coordination with Biden’s team.

“The Department of Defense conducted 164 interviews with over 400 officials and provided over 5,000 pages of documents – far more than originally requested by Biden’s transition team,” Miller’s statement said.

Included in this statement is a bulleted list of “transition facts” which indicates that all interviews with the transition team are being conducted for the first time in practical light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency’s efforts “are already outperforming the youngest administrations in more than three weeks,” said Miller, “and we continue to plan additional meetings for the remainder of the transition and respond to any information requests in our area of ​​responsibility.”

Department of Defense officials, the statement added, “have worked with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities on a compressed schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner that upholds the best traditions of the department. The American people expect nothing less and that’s what I’m still committed to. “

The Bureau of Administration and Housekeeping did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Biden applauded his agency review teams for doing “an excellent job” despite the pandemic and delays in receiving federal funding through Trump’s General Services Administration. These obstacles emerged when the president refused to allow Biden and his electoral team and others continued their efforts to overturn the elections.

According to Biden, it is an urgent concern “to ensure that nothing is lost during the handover between the administrations”.

“We need a comprehensive look at the current budget planning of the Department of Defense and other agencies to avoid the confusion and catch-up that our opponents may be trying to exploit.”

While the president-elect’s remarks were among his most critical of the Trump administration from the Wilmington lectern, they were not the first instance of Biden’s struggles with Trump’s Department of Defense.

Tensions between the Pentagon and Biden’s team became public earlier this month over Miller’s decision to cancel meetings with the Transition team for the rest of the year.

Miller said in a statement that there was a “mutually agreed vacation break” but a Biden spokesman replied that no such agreement had been made.

“Let me be clear: there was no mutually agreed vacation break,” transition spokesman Yohannes Abraham told reporters.

It was weeks after the election when defense officials confirmed that the transition process within the Pentagon had begun.

“The first meeting today was via videoconference. It was a good, productive meeting and we set some ground rules,” said Tom Muir, director of Washington Headquarters Services, during a Pentagon briefing on November 24th.

“They look forward to participating in discussions here at the Pentagon,” added Muir, who will facilitate the transition process.

Muir said at the time that the Biden team will have dedicated office space in the Pentagon and reasonable access to information.