Putin said Biden would be better for Russia “because he is a more experienced person, he is predictable, he is a politician of an old formation.”…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin, under fire from US President Joe Biden and NATO allies for Ukraine invasion, shocked the world, saying “A Biden Presidency in the US is better for Russia”.
“A Joe Biden presidency would be better for Russia than a Donald Trump one, Russian President Vladimir Putin told pro-Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin in an on-camera interview Wednesday, CNN reported.
Putin said Biden would be better for Russia “because he is a more experienced person, he is predictable, he is a politician of an old formation.”
However, he added that Russia would “work with any leader of the US that gains the trust of the American people.”
Putin also said to judge actions of the current administration in the US, one should look at its “political position”.
“I believe that the position of the current administration is extremely harmful and erroneous,” Putin said in a reference to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to Putin, that war “could have been over a year and a half ago” if agreements during a meeting in Istanbul in March 2022 were kept. Putin didn’t specify which agreements he was referring to.
The Russian president said he regretted that he “didn’t start active actions in Ukraine earlier” than February 2022, claiming that Western leaders had lied to Russia about “not expanding NATO to the East.”
“We were and are concerned about the possibility of Ukraine being drawn into NATO, since this threatens our security,” Putin said.
Putin also alleged that the Minsk agreements, a ceasefire protocol signed by Ukraine and Russia in 2015, was never meant to be kept but used “to buy time to load Ukraine with additional weapons.”
The Russian leader also expressed disappointment around his recent interview with far-right media figure Tucker Carlson.
“I honestly thought he would be aggressive and ask tough questions. I wasn’t only ready for that, I wanted that, because it would give me the opportunity to give tough answers back,” Putin said.
“To be frank, I didn’t fully enjoy that interview,” he said.
The Biden administration, last week, revealed its intention to unveil one additional Ukraine security package before the end of the year…reports Asian Lite News
The US State Department has announced a military aid package worth USD 250 million, the final such package that the United States will provide to Ukraine until Congress approves the Joe Biden administration’s funding requests, CNN reported.
“This package provides up to USD 250 million of arms and equipment under previously directed drawdowns for Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“Capabilities provided in today’s package include air defence munitions, other air defence system components, additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, anti-armour munitions, and over 15 million rounds of ammunition,” the statement added.
The Biden administration, last week, revealed its intention to unveil one additional Ukraine security package before the end of the year. However, it emphasised that it would be the final package that the United States could extend to Ukraine without obtaining explicit approval from lawmakers.
“Once these funds are obligated, the Department will have exhausted the funding available to us for security assistance to Ukraine,” said Defence Department comptroller Mike McCord in a letter to Congress.
This package marks the limit of the US’ ability to provide weapons to Ukraine without additional funding from Congress.
The Biden administration has asked Congress for a supplemental package including more than USD 60 billion in aid for Ukraine. But the legislation is currently stalled as negotiators try to find a compromise on border security and immigration policy, key Republican demands as part of any deal, as reported by CNN.
The Biden administration has repeatedly warned that its ability to provide aid to Ukraine was rapidly dwindling, forcing the Pentagon to stretch what little money it had left into smaller aid packages.
“It is imperative that Congress act swiftly, as soon as possible, to advance our national security interests by helping Ukraine defend itself and secure its future,” Blinken said.
In recent weeks, the United States has unveiled two security packages for Ukraine, valued at USD 200 million and USD 175 million, respectively. While these amounts are notably smaller compared to the more substantial aid packages earlier dispatched by the administration. Since Russia’s invasion commenced in February 2022, the US has allocated over USD 46 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
The security package disclosed on Wednesday operates under the Presidential Drawdown Authority, enabling swift deployment of resources directly from US stocks to Ukraine. This mechanism facilitates rapid assistance delivery.
It’s worth noting that the US has already fully utilised another vital form of aid–the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This initiative allows the Defence Department to engage with arms manufacturers, facilitating the acquisition of weapons for Kyiv, CNN reported. (ANI)
It remains unclear if House Republicans have the votes on impeachment in the narrowly divided lower chamber….reports Asian Lite News
Republicans are considering holding a formal vote to authorize their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, with Minnesota Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer, told members in a closed-door meeting Wednesday they could vote in the coming weeks on a move that could bolster the investigation’s legal standing, The Hill reported.
It remains unclear if House Republicans have the votes on impeachment in the narrowly divided lower chamber.
House Republicans have not had the votes to legitimize their inquiry, which former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally launched in September, with a formal House vote.
Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) said he would support impeachment if it came to the floor, but he’s also warning fellow Republicans of the political risks inherent in such a step.
GOP members told The Hill that Emmer cited pushback from the White House in making his case for the vote.
In a recent letter, the White House blasted the GOP for moving ahead on the inquiry without a vote securing the backing from members, repeatedly referring to the “impeachment inquiry” in quotes and writing that it is “lacking constitutional legitimacy.”
GOP members said Emmer viewed taking a vote as one way to respond to the White House criticism, particularly as the House GOP ramps up complaints that it has not yet received all the information from the administration that it has asked for.
“Sounds like the White House sent over a response to Comer and Jordan about [the] impeachment inquiry that former Speaker McCarthy announced, saying that unless it’s voted on by the whole House that they didn’t consider that it was a valid impeachment inquiry,” one GOP lawmaker told The Hill.
That was more or less the stance the White House took in a Nov. 17 letter to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer (R-Ky.).
The White House disputed the claim.
Yet another patently false claim in their failing wild goose chase. They’ve gotten access to 2,000+ pages of Treasury Dept reports, docs from FBI/DOJ/Natl Archives, dozens of hours of testimony from DOJ/FBI/IRS. Not to mention 15,000+ pages of people’s personal financial records” Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, wrote shortly after their press conference.
Missouri Republican Jason Smith taking to his X page discussed Hunter Biden and his role in the impeachment process. “We will follow the facts and see where they take us. During today’s impeachment inquiry stakeout, I gave updates into our investigation into the Biden family,” said Smith.
“Most Americans, they work hard to provide for their families, they follow the law, they pay their taxes, but the Biden family has been playing by different rules”
“President Biden wasn’t just aware of his son’s business dealings; he wasn’t just involved but he appears to have directly benefitted from them,” Smith said in a video posted on X.
Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, has offered to testify in a public setting rather than the closed-door deposition GOP lawmakers have compelled, reported The Hill.
“He said that a formal vote might strengthen the legal standing of the House,” another GOP lawmaker told The Hill.
“You also claim the mantle of an ‘impeachment inquiry’ knowing full well that the Constitution requires that the full House authorize an impeachment inquiry before a committee may utilize compulsory process pursuant to the impeachment power — a step the Republican House Majority has so far refused to take,” Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, wrote in the letter.
“In fact, both of you previously supported the position that moving forward with an impeachment inquiry without a vote of the House ‘represents an abuse of power and brings discredit to the House of Representatives.'”
However, other legal experts disagree — and House Republicans are not the first to start an impeachment inquiry without holding a vote. House Democrats and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did the same in 2019 ahead of the first impeachment of then-President Trump, before eventually formalizing the inquiry with a vote on a House resolution.
The Hill reported that Sauber in his letter referenced a White House Office of Legal Counsel opinion under Trump from 2020 that said a House resolution “is a constitutionally required step before a committee may exercise compulsory process in aid of the House’s ‘sole Power of Impeachment.'”
Jordan rejected the notion that holding a delayed vote would create the appearance of Republicans moving backward, noting that the vote to solidify the impeachment inquiry into Trump in 2019 came after Pelosi launched the probe.
Pelosi launched the impeachment inquiry on September 24, 2019, and the House voted to approve procedures for an inquiry on October 31. (ANI)
San Francisco was just another link in a long chain of events that are resulting in a multiplying of frictions between Beijing and Washington, writes Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat
CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping has been facing growing uneasiness with his leadership style within the senior ranks of his party. This is the consequence of (a) economic turmoil in China in an era of attempted decoupling of industry and commerce from that country, (b) the consequent steady fall in property prices and (c) rising unease within the CCP at Xi’s intrusive control over the party machinery and its personnel, including his whimsical appointments and punishments. These appear to be fuelled mostly on the basis of personal loyalty. In such a situation, it was imperative for Xi to travel to San Francisco for the APEC conference to convey the impression globally and domestically that the Sino-US relationship is re-entering a stable and friendly phase.
The problem facing Xi is that in past periods, it was possible for the CCP’s top leadership to use honeyed words to successfully camouflage the PRC’s hostile actions against a target country. Equally helpful in such a cover up was that several such operations were done through foreign cutouts rather than directly. Such camouflage has begun to fray with the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, where the pro-Russia and Hamas-friendly tilt of the PRC is clear even to the many western apologists of the CCP. Six weeks after the start of the conflict between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas, a war that began with the latter’s terror attack on Israel, it has become impossible to ignore which side the CCP is on, evidently to ensure that US attention got focused away from the Taiwan straits.
In Ukraine, Beijing’s pro-Moscow stance shows although sometimes language used by its spokespersons denote a more neutral hue. The war in Ukraine and now in Gaza have, not coincidentally, been seen as helpful to the Central Military Commission staff officers tasked with preparing plans for a steady snuffing out of Taiwan’s sovereignty. At present, Taiwan is a country in all but name. CMC planners have been tasked by Xi Jinping to work on a plan of action that will result by 2027 in Taiwan becoming another Hong Kong in all but name. Economic headwinds in China have led Xi to focus on achieving military success to ensure a fourth term, and the biggest prize would be the de facto takeover of Taiwan by the PRC.
In the PLA strategy of invasion by stealth, practically the whole of Taiwanese air and sea space has by now come under the control of the PLA, all that is as yet left being land. Artificial Intelligence is being used by CCP infowarriors to attempt to create a perception in young Taiwanese in particular that any kinetic resistance to the PLA would be ineffective. Images from both Ukraine and Gaza added to those created by AI are being disseminated in CCP-controlled social media platforms to create a defeatist mentality among the Taiwanese. Unfortunately for Xi, the opposite is taking place. As more facts tumble out about the repressive, control freak nature of the CCP top leadership, the greater is the antipathy within the Taiwanese public to becoming another Hong Kong, a city which Xi has made autonomous in name only.
TAIWANESE REJECT UNIFICATION
Global distaste for the bullying of Taiwan by the PRC is mounting, and barring a shrinking number of citizens mostly in their 70s and 80s, Taiwanese citizens oppose any form of control of their country by the PRC. They regard themselves not as PRC citizens but as Taiwanese, in the same way that those of Chinese descent in Singapore consider themselves to be Singaporean and not Chinese in the political sense of that term. The DPP, the ruling party in Taiwan, has nominated a popular and personable advocate of an independent Taiwan, William Lai, as its standard bearer in the Presidential elections due early next year. Even the KMT, which in past decades was dominated by individuals who favoured eventual unification with China, has nominated a Taiwanese rather than what is termed locally as a “Mainlander” (i.e. an individual descended from those who arrived from China in 1949 or later) as its standard bearer.
KMT Presidential candidate Hou You-yih, was in the past Chief of Police during the Presidential term of pro-independence DPP leader Chen Shui-bian, and recently went on a very successful tour of the US. Being “dark blue” (or in other words, favouring eventual merger into the PRC) now makes any politician toxic to most voters, which is why the KMT is now dominated by those who are “light blue” (or in other words, those who favour the status quo rather than either get absorbed into China or make a unilateral declaration of independence).
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is a lifelong believer in democracy and in the right of her people to be free from external control. She has been careful to avoid giving any excuse to the CCP to intervene in the island country, which is why the unilateral aggressiveness of the PRC under Xi has raised global concerns and boosted support for Taiwan in a manner not seen in the past. In effect, by the actions of the CCP, Taiwan has been set on a course to join Japan and South Korea in being a military ally of the US. Despite the influence of the Sino-Wahhabi lobby in Washington, President Biden has repeatedly signalled his intent not to permit distractions in Ukraine and Gaza to prevent the US from intervening kinetically in any situation involving a land invasion of Taiwan by the PLA. According to sources in San Francisco, this was conveyed emphatically to Xi as well.
INVESTORS LEAVE THE PRC
The shifting of tectonic plates altering US-PRC relations from ally to friend to rival to foe have led to a shrinking of appetite among global investors to put more money into China. Since 2019, any foreign investor has to cede full control of data to the CCP so as to operate without hindrance in China. Those who are uncooperative find themselves in trouble with the authorities very quickly. The US, Taiwan and Japan were the mainstay of foreign investment in China, but by 2021, all investors from all three have begun relocating to more welcoming shores, including India. As a consequence, unemployment is rising in China and growth has become sluggish. Property values have been going down steadily, bad news in a country where many tens of millions invest in property as a way of securing their future through later sale at a high price of the physical asset.
Several within the CCP believe the aggressive approach of Xi to be the cause of China’s economic decline, and such a perception is spreading in sync with shutdowns and job losses. Critics of Xi find themselves in prison or bankrupted by arbitrary actions of local authorities. For Xi, it was politically essential to show that it was business as usual between the US and China, so that the outward flow of foreign investment would get reversed. For the Chinese side, the Xi-Biden meeting was about optics, while the meeting between Xi and the top CEOs of the US companies was the substantive business. In the meeting with CEOs, it became clear to the executives who had paid $40,000 to have a Chinese-laced dinner with Xi that the PRC would not change its present course, however much Xi in his meeting with Biden sought to paper over such inflexibility.
Whether it be plunging the US into an opioid crisis through the smuggling of fentanyl, or building up military assets throughout the world through debt trap diplomacy, the CCP would go ahead with such moves, talk of cooperation notwithstanding. At the $ 40,000 a head business dinner, Xi’s contempt for the US and democracy came through in his responses, making several of his fellow diners take more seriously those who had claimed that General Secretary Xi was a throwback to the Mao era who has jettisoned Deng Xiaoping Thought completely in a return to both Maoist rhetoric and attitude towards private investment.
Continuing economic headwinds will show that Xi has failed in his mission of luring back foreign investment to the PRC. Nor has there been success during the meeting of the top leadership of both sides in Xi convincing the Biden administration to lessen restrictions on transfer of advanced technology to China. In view of the risk of kinetic conflict between the two superpowers, such restrictions continue, although as yet behaviour-altering apps such as TikTok have been allowed to continue under Biden.
For President Biden, the very optics of meeting the CCP General Secretary without getting anything more substantive than a repeat of vague commitments often made and subsequently ignored in the past are a vote loser, making higher the prospect of the Democratic Party moving towards another candidate in next year’s Presidential polls. Given that it was Xi who travelled to meet Biden rather than the other way around, most of the population of the PRC are unlikely to be taken in by media accounts of the Xi visit re-opening the way to large-scale sharing of technology and movement of investment into China by the US.
While some headline writers trumpeted the “historic” nature of the meeting, San Francisco was simply just another link in a long chain of events that are resulting in a multiplying of frictions between Beijing and Washington. As events of the first half of the past century show, playing nice with dictators makes not just bad policy but bad politics in a democracy, as President Biden will soon discover.
While he sat down for talks with President Biden, the Chinese leader showed no signs of deviating or tweaking the two centenary goals, which anchor a basic contradiction in the China-US ties, reports Atul Aneja
During the much-awaited talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden, Beijing and Washington have defined a new roadmap for dialogue.
These talks in San Francisco, on the sidelines of the APEC summit, build on the ice-breaking Xi-Biden dialogue held at Jakarta during the G-20 summit held last November in Bali.
So, what has Xi and Baden achieved in San Francisco? More importantly, has a new initiative been taken that has the legs to transform China-US ties positively and fundamentally? Besides, will whatever has transpired in San Francisco leave a trail towards a new global hierarchy apexed by the G-2—US and China?
It is now evident that China and the US have averted a head on collision, by embedding their relationship with several safety valves to release tensions, which are bound to arise following Beijing’s disruptive assertion to achieve its two centenary goals. During the 19th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2017, President Xi had declared his country’s pursuit of two strategic goals. The first, which has already been achieved officially, was to remove extreme poverty, by doubling the 2010 GDP by 2021. In turn, the removal of extreme poverty would turn China into a “moderately prosperous society.” The second centenary goal, which was bound to draw the US into fierce competition, was to turn China into a leading nation in all spheres of human endeavour. The timeline for achieving the second goal was 2049—a year that aligned with the 100 years of the formation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The historic project would culminate in a great rejuvenation of China or the achievement of the “Chinese dream.”
Mr. President, we have known each other for a long time.
We have not always agreed. But our meetings are always candid, straightforward, and useful.
Yesterday was no different.
Our nations may be in competition, but that doesn't mean we can't compete responsibly. pic.twitter.com/550epPY91b
While he sat down for talks with President Biden, the Chinese leader showed no signs of deviating or tweaking the two centenary goals, which anchor a basic contradiction in the China-US ties. He pointed out that with its development following its own logic and rules, “China is advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through modernization in its own unique style.” Xi also stressed that “China has no plans to surpass or replace the US, and the US should not attempt to suppress or contain China.”
Yet, the world’s largest and second largest economy showed their firm intent to avoid a military conflict—a position that undergirded a string of conflict-avoidance measures channelled through an intricate, multi-layered military dialogue mechanism.
Consequently, the talks yielded revival of high-level military communication apart from envisaging the China-US defence department working meetings, China-US military maritime security consultation mechanism and China-US military regional leaders’ conversations.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen their partnership to mitigate the Climate crisis, set up an intergovernmental dialogue on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and establish a China-US drug control cooperation working group to contain the availability and usage of the deadly fentanyl synthetic opioid that has spread like a wildfire in the US.
Though San Francisco has opened re-engagement, there are serious underlying problems, caused by Beijing’s rise and pursuit of the China containment strategy by the United States.
For instance, the US is bound to counter China’s intent to exercise its sovereignty over Taiwan under the one-China principle. From a US perspective, Chinese control over Taiwan has deep geostrategic implications, as it will liberate Beijing from the carefully crafted island-chain strategy, which took root after World War-II.
Historically, the emergence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and the onset of the Cold War, led John Foster Dulles, a former US Secretary of State, to develop the “island chain strategy” of besieging China and the former Soviet Union from the sea. Dulles’s doctrine, aired during the heat of the Korean War in the early fifties, had three layers.
Of the three island chains, the “first island chain” was the most important. The lengthy network starts from Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East and weaves its way into Japan. Then, from the southernmost part of the Japanese mainland, it passes through Okinawa, a part of a larger Ryukyu Island chain which ends with Taiwan. From Taiwan, the “first island chain” heads towards the Philippines and the island of Borneo, before looping towards the tip of the Malay Peninsula. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the first island chain has begun to increasingly focus on China.
But Beijing’s control over Taiwan would breach the first island. With its territorial hold on Taiwan, the Chinese can dock their nuclear submarines in Taiwan’s exceptionally deep waters, beyond the surveillance network of the three island chains, thereby exploding the China-containment strategy. Besides, the Chinese are bound to take exception to the formation of the Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) alliance, crafted specifically to contain China in the Indo-Pacific.
The US attempt to militarise the Indo-Pacific QUAD comprising India, US, Japan, and Australia will also breach a détente, possibly emerging between Beijing and Washington following the Xi-Biden talks.
The two-step plan, a victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, received bipartisan support in both chambers. It establishes new shutdown deadlines in January and February.
US President Joe Biden signed the stopgap spending bill into law, preventing a government shutdown and initiating a contentious funding battle in the coming year, CNN reported on Friday (local time).
The two-step plan, a victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, received bipartisan support in both chambers. It establishes new shutdown deadlines in January and February.
The legislation extends funding until January 19 for priorities such as military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing, and the Energy Department. The rest of the government, not covered by the initial step, will be funded until February 2, according to CNN.
Democrats, despite bipartisan backing, conceded aid for Ukraine and omitted additional military assistance, as well as military support for Israel.
Conservatives, who initially advocated for the two-step approach, opposed the plan because it lacked the deep spending cuts they had demanded. Instead, it maintains funding at current levels, securing Democratic support.
The House passed the measure with a vote of 336 to 95 on Tuesday, with more Democrats supporting it than Republicans. The Senate approved the bill 87 to 11 on Wednesday.
The bill, flown to San Francisco, California, on Thursday, awaited Biden’s signature.
“Last night I signed a bill preventing a government shutdown. It’s an important step but we have more to do. I urge Congress to address our national security and domestic needs,” Biden post on X.
Johnson’s strategy enables Congress to avoid passing a major spending bill before the winter holidays. However, the lack of support from some members of his party poses a leadership test for the recently elected speaker.
Rep Kevin McCarthy, Johnson’s predecessor, was ousted after presenting the previous stopgap bill in September, though it averted a shutdown. Many House Republicans indicate that Johnson will be spared a similar fate, asserting that he inherited problems and has not been in the position for long, CNN reported. (ANI)
Biden meets Xi for the first time after taking charge
The meeting comes on the heels of a meeting Biden held with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Washington last week….reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Tuesday (local time). She said that Biden looks forward to the meeting.
While addressing a press briefing on Tuesday (local time), Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We’ve been talking about the President, who said he was looking forward to meeting with President Xi. And so, I’m not going to get into details about this meeting that’s going to happen in November next month. It’s going to be in San Francisco. It’s going to be a constructive meeting. The President’s looking forward to it.”
When asked again if the meeting was happening, Jean-Pierre responded, “Yes.” However, she refused to divulge details regarding the agenda of the meeting.
Other reporters then pressed Jean-Pierre on whether she just confirmed the meeting will happen. Jean-Pierre said, “What I’m saying is that we’re aiming to have a constructive conversation meeting between the leaders in San Francisco in November so that’s what I’m saying. That’s what is going to happen in San Francisco in the next month, in November. We are having a constructive conversation in San Francisco. I think I just confirmed it.”
Karine Jean-Pierre said that the US has been clear with its policy with respect to China and called it “intense competition.” She said that Biden will have a “tough but important” conversation with Xi Jinping. She spoke about the earlier meetings held between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart.
In the press briefing, Jean-Pierre said, “We have been clear; our policy and how we move forward with China haven’t changed. This is intense competition, right? We have said that we want to move forward with China. We understand that intense competition means intense diplomacy; that’s what you’re going to see. That’s what the president is going to be doing–having a tough but important conversation.”
“I am not going to get into any kind of decision made on this. This is going to be about diplomatic conversations. We have seen about three secretaries go to China and have these diplomatic conversations. We saw Secretary Antony Blinken, and we also saw National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan having important diplomatic conversations with their counterparts in China. This is an important relationship. Again, this is about competition; that’s what we want to see with China and this is going to be an important diplomatic conversation.”
The meeting comes on the heels of a meeting Biden held with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Washington last week. The White House said Biden “emphasised that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication,” and he “underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges.”
Joe Biden last met Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali in 2022. The ties between India and China have been strained since US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which China claims is part of its territory.
The US-China relationship began to sour in 2018 when the Trump administration slapped hefty tariffs on USD 50 billion worth of Chinese goods. It deteriorated further over a range of issues, including rights abuses, the South China Sea, Taiwan, technology and the COVID-19 pandemic. (ANI)
The US administration will work with allies and partners abroad, including India, on a strong international framework to govern the development and use of AI….reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden on Monday signed a key executive order to manage the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) and make America a global AI leader.
The order establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects users’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more.
The US administration will work with allies and partners abroad, including India, on a strong international framework to govern the development and use of AI.
The order requires that developers of the most powerful AI systems share their safety test results and other critical information with the US government.
“In accordance with the Defense Production Act, the Order will require that companies developing any foundation model that poses a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety must notify the federal government when training the model, and must share the results of all red-team safety tests,” read the order.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology will set the rigorous standards for extensive red-team testing to ensure safety before public release. The Department of Homeland Security will apply those standards to critical infrastructure sectors and establish the AI Safety and Security Board.
artificial intelligence.(photo:Pixabay.com)
The Departments of Energy and Homeland Security will also address AI systems’ threats to critical infrastructure, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and cybersecurity risks.
“Together, these are the most significant actions ever taken by any government to advance the field of AI safety,” said Biden.
The order also aims to protect against the risks of using AI to engineer dangerous biological materials by developing strong new standards for biological synthesis screening.
“Agencies that fund life-science projects will establish these standards as a condition of federal funding, creating powerful incentives to ensure appropriate screening and manage risks potentially made worse by AI,” the US president said.
The executive order also aims to protect Americans from AI-enabled fraud and deception by establishing standards and best practices for detecting AI-generated content and authenticating official content.
The Department of Commerce will develop guidance for content authentication and watermarking to clearly label AI-generated content. “Federal agencies will use these tools to make it easy for Americans to know that the communications they receive from their government are authentic,” said the order.
“AI not only makes it easier to extract, identify, and exploit personal data, but it also heightens incentives to do so because companies use data to train AI systems,” it added.
Irresponsible uses of AI can lead to and deepen discrimination, bias, and other abuses in justice, healthcare, and housing. The Biden-Kamala Harris Administration has already taken action by publishing the blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and issuing an Executive Order directing agencies to combat algorithmic discrimination, while enforcing existing authorities to protect people’s rights and safety.
Meanwhile, over 100 world leaders, tech honchos, academics and researchers are set to gather this week in the UK to deliberate upon the risks associated with AI and how to tackle those under the leadership of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
If international aggression is allowed to continue, Biden said, “conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world”…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening US involvement in a rare Oval Office address as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries.
If international aggression is allowed to continue, Biden said, “conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world.”
“Hamas and Putin represent different threats,” Biden said. “But they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”
He said he would send an urgent funding request to Congress, which is expected to be roughly $100 billion over the next year. The proposal, which will be unveiled on Friday, includes money for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, humanitarian aid and border management.
“It’s a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations,” Biden said.
Biden hopes that combining all of these issues into one piece of legislation will create the necessary political coalition for congressional approval. His speech comes the day after his high-stakes trip to Israel, where he showed solidarity with the country in its battle against Hamas and pushed for more humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Ahead of his address, Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stress that the US remained committed to backing Kyiv, the White House said. And a senior White House official said Biden continued to develop his remarks on Thursday after working with close aides throughout the week, including on his flight home from Israel. The official declined to be identified ahead of the president’s speech.
Biden faces an array of steep challenges as he tries to secure the money. The House remains in chaos because the Republican majority has been unable to select a speaker to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted more than two weeks ago.
Hamas rejects Australia’s decision of listing it as terror group
In addition, conservative Republicans oppose sending more weapons to Ukraine as its battle against the Russian invasion approaches the two-year mark. Biden’s previous request for funding, which included $24 billion to help with the next few months of fighting, was stripped out of budget legislation last month despite a personal plea from Zelensky.
The White House has warned that time is running out to prevent Ukraine, which recently struggled to make progress in a grueling counteroffensive, from losing ground to Russia because of dwindling supplies of weapons.
There will be resistance on the other side of the political spectrum when it comes to military assistance for Israel, which has been bombarding the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
Critics have accused Israel of indiscriminately killing civilians and committing war crimes by cutting off essential supplies like food, water and fuel.
Bipartisan support for Israel has already eroded in recent years as progressive Democrats have become more outspoken in their opposition to the country’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory, which is widely viewed as illegal by the international community.
There are rumbles of disagreement within Biden’s administration as well. Josh Paul, a State Department official who oversaw the congressional liaison office dealing with foreign arms sales, resigned over US policy on weapons transfers to Israel.
“I cannot work in support of a set of major policy decisions, including rushing more arms to one side of the conflict, that I believe to be short-sighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse,” he wrote in a statement posted to his LinkedIn account.
Paul is believed to be the first official to have resigned in opposition to the administration’s decision to step up military assistance to Israel after the Oct. 7 attack.
While visiting Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Biden told Israel that “we will not let you ever be alone.” However, he cautioned Israelis against being “consumed” by rage as he said the United States was after the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001.
Wartime decision-making, Biden said, “requires asking very hard questions” and “clarity about the objectives and an honest assessment about whether the path you are on will achieve those objectives.”
A speech from the Oval Office is one of the most prestigious platforms that a president can command, an opportunity to try to seize the country’s attention at a moment of crisis. ABC, NBC and CBS all said they would break into regular programming to carry the address live.
Biden has delivered only one other such speech during his presidency, after Congress passed bipartisan budget legislation to avert a default on the country’s debt.
The White House and other senior administration officials, including Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, have quietly briefed key lawmakers in recent days about the contours of the planned supplemental funding request.
The Senate plans to move quickly on Biden’s proposal, hoping that it creates pressure on the Republican-controlled House to resolve its leadership drama and return to legislating.
However, there are disagreements within the Senate on how to move forward. Eight Republicans, led by Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, said they did not want to combine assistance for Ukraine and Israel in the same legislation.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the National Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning Ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C. Nov. 19, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua/IANS)
The president is planning to ask Congress for an additional year-long aid package worth $100 billion that would include funding for Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific countries including Taiwan…reports Asian Lite News
President Biden will deliver an address to the nation from the Oval Office on Thursday about the recent Hamas attacks against Israel and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the White House said.
“Tomorrow, President Biden will address the nation to discuss our response to Hamas’ attacks against Israel and Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, adding that the speech will be broadcast from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. ET.
Biden is returning to Washington after a brief trip to Israel on Wednesday, where he met with Israeli leaders to show support for the key US ally after the Oct. 7 attacks that killed more than 1,400 people. He also stressed the need to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Hamas-controlled Gaza, and said on Air Force One that Egypt had agreed to allow a convoy of trucks with supplies to enter the blockaded territory.
The president is planning to ask Congress for an additional year-long aid package worth $100 billion that would include funding for Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific countries including Taiwan, as well as measures to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The US has sent tens of billions of dollars’ worth of aid and weapons to Ukraine to help in their fight against Russia, but the White House has warned that additional support could soon be delayed without action from Congress. Ukraine aid has been a sticking point in negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, most recently in the fight over avoiding a government shutdown. Many GOP lawmakers object to sending Kyiv more assistance without stricter oversight of where the money and weapons are going.
An emergency aid package for Israel, meanwhile, has attracted broad bipartisan support. House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have stressed the urgency behind electing a new speaker of the House who can bring a bill to the floor to provide funding for Israel. That effort stalled again on Wednesday, when Rep. Jim Jordan fell short of the votes needed to capture the speaker’s gavel for the second time.
The president most recently addressed the nation from the Oval Office in June, when he hailed passage of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
Public opinion however, has been mixed on the conflicts.
In a recent CNN poll, nearly all respondents were sympathetic with the Israeli people in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks, but there was no clear consensus on the right level of American involvement.
One-third (35 per cent) said the US is providing the right amount of assistance and another 36 per cent were unsure whether the level of American assistance is appropriate.
As part of Washington’s security assistance with Israel, th Jewish nation receives roughly $4 billion annually under a 10-year memorandum of understanding. In contrast, support to sustain aid to Ukraine has waned significantly.
An August CNN poll found 55 per cent of respondents said Congress should not pass more funding to aid Ukraine. Nearly three-quarters of Republicans opposed more funding for Ukraine, while 62 per cent of Democrats supported it.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the White House and Congress have provided more than $75 billion in funding to Kiev. The Biden administration in August delivered its last supplemental funding request, which encapsulates unique requests beyond traditional government programs.
The proposal requested $24.1 billion to aid Ukraine through the end of the year, but Congress failed to approve it during a process to greenlight short-term federal funding, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Sky News, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the US could afford financing two wars at once.
“American(s) can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israel’s military needs, and we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia,” Yellen was quoted as saying.
Tlaib accuses Biden admin of ‘genocide’
Meanwhile, US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib has accused the Joe Biden administration of funding a “genocide” against Palestinians and put the onus on Israeli military for bombing a hospital in Gaza, Fox News reported.
Rep Tlaib, the sole Palestinian American in the US Congress while addressing a pro-Parlestine rally on Capitol Hill on Wednesday broke down into tears and called for a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“That’s what’s been really painful — just continue to watch people think it’s okay to bomb a hospital where children. You know, what’s so hard sometimes is watching those videos and the people telling the kids, ‘Don’t cry.’ But like, let them cry! And they’re shaking, and somebody — you know this — they keep telling them not to cry in Arabic. They can cry, I can cry, we all can cry. If we’re not crying, something is wrong,” Tlaib said.
“I’m telling you right now President Biden, not all America is with you on this one. And you need to wake up and understand that,” she added. “We are literally watching people commit genocide and killing a vast majority… and we still stand by and say nothing. We will remember this.”
