Thursday, 29 April 2021 (YJC)_President Joe Biden claimed to confront Iran and North Korea with “stern deterrence” in support of diplomatic efforts.
President Joe Biden claimed he promised to confront Iran and North Korea with “stern deterrence” in support of diplomatic efforts to manage the rogue states' nuclear programs, using a major address to make a clear break with former President Donald Trump’s more hawkish rhetoric.
“On Iran and North Korea, nuclear programs that present serious threats to American security and the security of the world, we’re going to be working closely with our allies to address the threats posed by both of these countries through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence,” Biden said Wednesday evening during his maiden joint address to Congress.
Biden’s team is already working to rehabilitate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a reversal of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the pact and impose a “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign on the regime. His team’s approach to North Korea has put more emphasis on deterrence than diplomacy thus far, resuming military drills with South Korea despite North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s misgivings about the U.S. military's presence in the region.
He also pledged to maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific and promising to boost technological development and trade.
“I also told President Xi that we’ll maintain a strong military presence in the Indo-Pacific, just as we do with NATO in Europe — not to start a conflict but to prevent one,” Biden said.
"China and other countries are closing in fast. We have to develop and dominate the products and technologies of the future," Biden said.
And in a line that drew some of the strongest applause of the evening, he said, "There is simply no reason the blades for wind turbines can't be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing."
Biden has repeatedly identified competition with China as the greatest foreign policy challenge the country faces. He and his fellow Democrats as well as opposition Republicans have all moved toward a harder line on dealings with Beijing.
"America will stand up to unfair trade practices that undercut American workers and American industries, like subsidies to state-owned enterprises and the theft of American technology and intellectual property," Biden said.
Biden also addressed competition with another geopolitical rival, Russia. He said he had made clear to President Vladimir Putin that Moscow's interference in U.S. elections and cyber-attacks on government and businesses would have consequences, but Washington does not seek escalation.
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