McConnell: US Faces New 'Axis of Evil' | China In Focus 2023-10-24 01:35

a powerful phrase We step up and deal with this axis of Evil US Senate minority leader using it to describe the rising partnership between China Russia and Iran why is the Strategic partnership between Beijing and ton a concern for the US a look at what's at stake dangerous actions at Sea Washington vowing to defend the Philippines against China after Manila said a Chinese ship intentionally collided with its vessels Global Jitters over an ailing Chinese developer but the firm's woses are being felt far beyond Chinese borders who else is taking the impact what do you think let us know below and subscribe if you haven't already welcome to China in Focus I'm Tiffany Meyer a powerful statement from Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell in an interview with Fox News he said an axis of Evil is posing threats to the United States and so this is an emergency it's an emergency that we step up and deal with this aess of evil China Russia Iran his remarks come amid conflicts unfolding in different parts of the world in Europe Russia's invasion of Ukraine is ongoing while in the middle East Israel is at war with Hamas the terrorist group controlling Gaza moving further east the Chinese Communist party has vowed to take control of Taiwan by force if necessary Grant Nim senior fellow at the center for security policy has this to say imagine if Iran does something more or if this war in the Middle East expands to include Iran uh suddenly you're going to have to send an awful lot of the US military there to cover it the effects on the global economy will be immediate and striking and we haven't even talked about Asia yet so America is being sort of forced to look at a number of very serious Wars at the same time and to be involved in them uh to some degree or the other and any degree is too much Moran Nim's remarks coming later on China in Focus as for Beijing its nuclear weapon stockpile is growing faster than Pentagon projections according to the defense department estimates it has over 500 Warheads under its belt as of May former President George W bush used the phrase axes of evil 12 years ago in the wake of 911 he was referring to North Korea Iran and Iraq at the time authoritarian access a powerful phrase now making a return as global concerns rise earlier this year Andrea Kendall Taylor a senior fellow of the center for a new American Security Think Tank described China Russia and Iran as the new authoritarian AIS here's more on her remarks on the surface China and Iran appears unlikely allies the Chinese Communist Party pushes an atheist Society while Iran is a strictly Islamic country senior fellow at the center for a new American Security Andrea Kendall Taylor shed light on what led to the partnership and warned of a magnified effect saying by working together the challenges they post collectively add up to be more than the sum of their parts in any one individual challenge if they were working on their own China and Iran have a common enemy the United States what's more China needs Iranian oil the latest milestone in their friendship stretches back to 2021 when China and Iran signed a strategic partnership agreement the whooping 25-year deal included both economic and military corporation it's also part of beijing's belt and Road initiative a massive infrastructure project believed to spread beijing's influence outside its borders Chinese media commented on the agreement at the time saying the two countries share an adversary the group of Western Powers led by the United States how else do China and Iran help each other one of the most important ways Beijing supports tan is through buying up its oil the US imposed sanctions on Iran's oil saory in 2020 for backing the cuts force a terrorist organization in the Middle East but China continued its fuel purchases meaning the money kept flowing too the Chinese ambassador to Iran said in 20121 that China was the only country that still bought oil from Iran according to capler a platform for global trade intelligence almost 90% of Iranian oil went to China as of last month officially China denies buying the fuel from Iran besides oil the two countries are believed to collaborate on weapons too reports have accused Beijing of helping Iran's nuclear program by transferring technology and Equipment th despite Western attempts to reign in the country's Warheads in 2015 Iran signed a deal with several world powers including the US and China Iran promised to restrict its nuclear program in exchange for relief from us sanctions former president Trump canel the deal in 2018 he said it failed to curtel Iran's nuclear program that the country managed to circumvent the sanctions under the Biden Administration the US is now trying to revive the deal next a glimpse into the China Russia relationship the two countries are believed to be in the Golden Age of relations right before Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian President Putin in Beijing China deared its friendship with Russia had no limits that friendship was partially linked to energy they signed a number of agreements during the visit including a new gas deal under it Russia would Supply over 350 billion cubic feet of gas per year to China bya a new pipeline from Russia's Far East the Ukraine war boosted energy cooperation between the two countries even further China imported a record volume of Russian oil in the first half of this year while the West reduced reduced energy imports from Russia and sanctioned the country the result China as the world's second largest economy could stockpile cheaper oil the two countries started their energy partnership about 10 years ago in 2014 China and Russia signed a gas deal for $400 billion over 30 years bringing them closer together as they look to counter the West as for the Ukraine war China has not condemned Russia's Invasion so far the US believes China is willing to supply weapons to Moscow intelligence reports cite a leaked document as saying China plan to send military equipment to Russia disguised as civilian Goods Beijing denied the accusation a string of Naval confrontations between China and the Philippines ending in a collision the Philippines reports that a Chinese Coast Guard ship engaged in dangerous blocking Maneuvers that led to a crash with one of its ships let's Zoom zoom in China and the Philippines traded accusations over a collision in disputed Waters of the South China Sea on Sunday as Chinese vessels blocked Philippine boats supplying forces there armed forces of the Philippines released this video showing the Chinese vessel grazing the hole of the Philippines boat the Collision occurred during the Philippines resupply mission to troops stationed on a rusted World War II era transport ship used as an outpost on the shore China's Coast Guard said they were lawfully blocking the boat from transporting illegal construction materials to the warship Manila responded by condemning in the strongest degree the dangerous blocking maneuvers of the Chinese vessel we are here to really decry in the strongest possible terms this egregious violation an illegal act within the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and the obfuscation of the truth by China's distorting the story to fit its own ends the Filipinos are have been incredibly Brave and really set the standard for what countries ought to do when faced with Chinese pressure like this uh they have publicized exactly what the Chinese are doing the US sided with the Philippines offering support to its Ally in a statement on Sunday the US state department said China's actions amounted to repeated harassment in the South China Sea and that they were dangerous in and unlawful Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea including parts of the exclusive economic zones of brunai Indonesia Malaysia the Philippines and Vietnam the permanent Court of arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis smaller investments in a brand new strategy China is throwing in another 100 billion doll into its belt and Road initiative it's an ambitious global infrastru structure program that critics say aims to spread beijing's influence overseas according to experts the news spending is a wind down from previous years the goal to Pivot its focus towards quote small yet smart projects more specifically lower cost and environment friendly projects over the last decade China has handed out nearly $1 trillion dollars in loans to mostly developing nations building roads Bridges ports and Railways but many of those Construction projects ended up in vain as countries were left saddled with mounting debt Western leaders have criticized the belon road as debt trapped diplomacy some notable recipients of the initiative Russia Iran Palestine and Afghanistan one significant example the regime signed off a $400 billion comprehensive strategic partnership deal with Iran that number totals 10% of China's belt and Road budget beijing's recent actions against foreign firms have a new Target a critical Apple iPhone supplier called foxcon insiders say political motives linked to taiwan's upcoming elections let's take a look shares in iPhone maker foxcon tumbled on Monday they fell as much as 3% in morning trade the slide followed a weekend report that the firm faces investigation by Watchdogs in China that includes tax Audits and probes over land use Fox con said in a statement Sunday say that legal compliance was a fundamental principle and it would actively cooperate with the relevant authorities the Taiwan based firm makes most iPhones at a factory in China's henan Province it employs around 200,000 people there but also has smaller plants in the south of the country on Monday it declined to comment further on the reports but it all comes Less Than 3 months before Taiwan votes in presidential and parliamentary elections Fox con's billionaire founder Terry go is among those running and a new development in the Diplomatic thaw between Australia and China Australian prime minister Anthony albanes says a deal has been struck with Beijing that's to push for a settlement of a World Trade Organization dispute over wine trade between the countries the Breakthrough may clear the way for the resumption of imports worth $800 million a year that was before Beijing imposed tariffs on Australian wine in 2020 China previously lifted import curbs on other Australian Goods including coal Timber and barley albanes also said he would travel to China in November to meet with leader xinping it will be the first trip by an Australian prime minister to China since 2016 albanes revealed that plan just hours before flying to the us to meet President Joe Biden it's in Australia's interest to have good relations with China and uh certainly though my focus uh BEC coming days uh will be very much on the uh the visit uh to the United States uh with Australia's uh closest partner uh talking about the future of our alliance albanes referred to Aus the security partnership between the US Australia and the UK he said the future of the alliance was built on shared values commitment to democracy and global stability under the trilateral path the US and Britain will cooperate to provide Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines that aims to counter a more assertive China in the Indo Pacific region more Market Jitters for Beijing as ailen property developer Country Garden Sparks global concerns that's over whether the giant is headed for default but the impact could reach far beyond the Chinese market here's the story of one Australian suburb that got caught in the crossfire Susie brand stator is a long way from China she's a local politician in the small Australian town of Wilton about an hour outside Sydney and yet she's feeling the effects of trouble at the giant Chinese property developer Country Garden which was supposed to build a huge new residential community in Wilton now to me when you are building a new city from scratch Greenfield development there is room and time to get it right and have all that infrastructure in place before the people come the Wilton greens development was supposed to feature 3,600 homes but 4 years after it was announced fewer than 50 houses are under construction the promised Parks Sports fields and school haven't materialized and now Country Garden has put most of the project on the market it all comes as the firm struggles with its debts this week it missed bond interest payments putting it on the brink of default and the Fallout reaches well beyond China in Wilton quantity surveyor Stuart bant says it's literally causing a stink as you can see this construction already started however the infrastructure hasn't been provided as promised meaning that the sewage is draining into a tank which means that there'll be multiple truck movements all through day and night to empty out the waste water because there is no onsite solution the problems are symbolic of the changing fortunes at Country Garden and Chinese Rivals they borrowed on a massive scale to fund huge developments at home and abroad but such firms have struggled since Beijing moved to reign in the borrowing spree now creditors are circling seeking emergency debt restructuring at Country Garden the people of Wilton would just like the homes they were promised and a sewage system to go with it that's all for today's China InFocus on YouTube we're now sharing a short verion of our program here here's what to look out for in our second half new threats facing the United States Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell saying China Russia and Iran make up a new axis of Evil what threats did they pose to the US and how should Washington respond we spoke to Grant Nim retired Marine Colonel and Senior fellow of the center for security policy for in the full episode is available on our partner platform IG TV to sign up click the link down below thanks for watching China INF Focus I'm Tiffany Meyer see you tomorrow