U.S. President Joe Biden (L) gifts South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol a guitar signed by artist Don McLean during a state dinner for Yoon at the White House in Washington on April 26, 2023.(Yonhap/IANS)
When Yoon grabbed the microphone and delivered the first few lines, he received a standing ovation and loud applause from the audience.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday revealed that he was taken aback when asked to sing the 1971 hit by Don McLean, “American Pie”, at a state dinner at the White House last week but believes he delivered his rendition quite well.
During his six-day state visit to the US last week, Yoon attended the dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden, and close to the end of it, Biden asked Yoon to sing the song, one of the South Korean President’s favourites, reports Yonhap News Agency.
“When President Biden asked me to come up to the stage, I thought I would be given a guitar, but I was pretty taken aback when he asked me to sing,” Yoon said during a dinner meeting with the leadership of the ruling People Power Party.
When Yoon grabbed the microphone and delivered the first few lines, he received a standing ovation and loud applause from the audience.
Biden then presented him with a guitar signed by McLean on behalf of the musician, who could not attend the dinner.
Just minutes before Yoon’s surprise performance, three Broadway singers gave music performances and sang a rendition of “American Pie”.
“As shown in pictures, I thought I sang very well, as singers from ‘Miss Saigon’ showed a surprising expression seeing me singing,” he said.
Meanwhile, South Korea and Japan agreed to resume their long-stalled Finance Ministers’ meeting “at an appropriate time this year” as the two countries gear up to normalise economic ties after several years of trade tensions.
Officials from Japan will visit South Korea next month to work out details of the meeting, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday citing the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho and his Japanese counterpart, Shunichi Suzuki, on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Incheon.
“Japan and South Korea share common values, such as freedom and human rights,” Choo said ahead of the meeting.
“(As the two countries) consider the free trade and market system to be the key of their economic management, there are many areas in which the two governments and the private sectors can join forces.”
The Finance Minister said it is significant that South Korea and Japan have resumed shuttle diplomacy, or regular visits to each other’s countries by their leaders.
President Yoon Suk Yeol was the first South Korean president in 12 years to make a bilateral visit to Japan in March.
The White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua/IANS)
White House staff reportedly asked to purchase Twitter Blue on “their personal social media accounts using personal funds“
The members of the White House will have to spend on their own in order to keep the blue verification checkmarks on Twitter, the White House informed its staffers on Friday via an email saying that won’t be subscribing to Twitter Blue, New York Post reported.
When Elon Musk took control of Twitter as the CEO, a change was announced regarding the blue checkmarks. According to the new policy, Twitter plans to discontinue its long-running verified programme, removing the blue checkmarks from accounts that don’t pay the USD 8 monthly subscription fee.
“It is our understanding that Twitter Blue does not provide person-level verification as a service,” White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty informed staffers via email, according to New York Post.
“Thus, a blue check mark will now simply serve as a verification that the account is a paid user. Staff may purchase Twitter Blue on their personal social media accounts using personal funds,” Flaherty wrote in the email.
According to media reports, news organisations including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times have informed staff members that they will not be paying for Twitter Blue.
The White House will join individuals like NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who won the Super Bowl, and NBA superstar Lebron James in refusing to continue paying the monthly price to be verified, New York Post reported.
After taking over the microblogging site, Musk announced the ability for users to purchase a blue tick verified through Twitter Blue.
Despite getting internal warnings from Twitter’s own trust and safety staff, Musk’s plan resulted in the impersonation of high-profile accounts, including Twitter’s advertisers, The Verge reported.
After Musk took over Twitter, the microblogging site has been adding and removing separate, grey checkmarks on high-profile accounts without explaining the reason. (ANI)
Iran President Ebrahim Raisi with Russian President Vladimir Putin (File)
John Kirby in a virtual briefing said that the U.S. has “additional information” that Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine is growing.
The White House on Friday said that Russia may provide fighter jets to Iran as part of the expanding defence relationship between the two countries, The Hill reported.
White House spokesperson on national security issues, John Kirby in a virtual press briefing told reporters that the U.S. has “additional information” that Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine is growing. Kirby further said that Russia has been offering Iran “unprecedented support,” and the U.S. government believes Moscow may provide Iran with fighter jets. Iran is looking to purchase billions of dollars worth of equipment from Russia, such as helicopters and radar.
“We’re going to be watching this very closely to see what, if anything, actually transpires and what, if any, transactions are actually made,” Kirby said, as quoted by The Hill.
“There is this growing defence cooperation between Iran and Russia, and it’s not only certainly going to make things in Ukraine more difficult, but it could certainly make the security situation in the Middle East more difficult,” Kirby added.
Previously too, the White House had warned of deepening military ties between Russia and Iran amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
John Kirby said that Russia has been offering Iran “unprecedented support.”
Last July, National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of unmanned drones for use in Ukraine.
CNN had in November reported that Iran is preparing to send additional weapons to Russia, including short-range missiles.
Kirby in December said that the US believed Moscow and Tehran “are considering the establishment of a joint production line for lethal drones in Russia”, according to The Hill.
Recently, Iran for the first time acknowledged that it provided drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in the capital, Tehran, that Iran “gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war,” reported CNN.
The statement by Iran’s Foreign Minister came after previous denials by Tehran that it had supplied Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, saying it “has not and will not” do so.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.
However, Amir-Abdollahian did not say if the drones that were supplied to Moscow were the type that carries explosives.
“Some western countries have accused Iran of helping the war in Ukraine by providing drones and missiles to Russia. The part regarding missiles is completely wrong. The part about drones is correct, we did provide a limited number of drones to Russia in the months before the start of the war in Ukraine,” Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in Tehran, reported CNN.
Self-detonating drones have played a significant role in the conflict since Russia launched its invasion in late February. They are capable of circling for some time in an area identified as a potential target and striking only once an enemy asset is identified. (ANI)
It was the first time in over a decade, that a wedding ceremony had taken place in the White House, as per People Magazine.
Not only that, it was the first time ever that the grandchild of a President in the office got married in the vicinity of the President’s House.
Naomi was walked down the matrimonial aisle by both her parents, according to People Magazine.
The new bride also carried some Lilies of the Valley with her, as a continuation of tradition from her mother’s side of the family.
The wedding celebration lasted all day.
People Magazine reported that a luncheon took place subsequently. It was attended by close family members.
An evening reception ended the series of wedding events at the executive mansion, where dessert was served and guests shook a leg.
Naomi and Peter had announced their engagement in 2021 via a post on Instagram. They were greeted by congratulatory messages and blessings in the comments.
According to People Magazine, they had announced their wedding venue earlier this year.
The last time a wedding was observed at the White House was in 2013, when Presidential photographer Pete Souza read the vows with Patti Lease at the Rose Garden.
28-year-old Naomi is a graduate of Colombia Law, while 25-year-old Peter also studied law and has formerly interned for campaigns at the White House as well. (ANI)
According to the report, one of the photos is of a toilet in the White House while another is from a foreign trip…reports Asian Lite News
New photos on the internet revealed that former US President Donald Trump appeared to have flushed ripped-up government documents down the toilet.
New York Times’ reporter Maggie Haberman obtained the document dump photos for “Confidence Man”, her forthcoming book on the Trump White House, reports dpa news agency.
Despite Trump’s denials, the photos show scraps of paper in two toilet bowls with his distinctive handwriting on them.
“Some (Trump) aides were aware of the habit, which he engaged in repeatedly,” Haberman told Axios, which published the incriminating pictures.
“It was an extension of Trump’s term-long habit of ripping up documents that were supposed to be preserved.”
According to the report, one of the photos is of a toilet in the White House while another is from a foreign trip.
It’s impossible to tell the subject of the destroyed documents. But the name “Stefanik”, apparently a reference to upstate Representative Elise Stefanik, is legible on one piece of paper.
The former President slammed the new report through his spokesman, Tyler Budowich.
“You have to be pretty desperate to sell books if pictures of paper in a toilet bowl is part of your promotional plan,” said Budowich.
NEW: Here are photos that the NY Times’ Maggie Haberman obtained from a White House source showing documents with Trump’s handwriting on them — in two different toilets. Trump reportedly flushed both sets of documents repeatedly. This contradicts his repeated denials. pic.twitter.com/fn1SjOFxDW
The twice-impeached President was notorious for ripping up documents in his frequent rages, forcing aides to collect scraps that later had to be taped back together and submitted to the National Archives.
Trump also took several boxes stuffed with records, including papers marked “CLASSIFIED” with him to his Florida estate when he left the White House on January 20, 2021.
The actions could violate the Presidential Records Act, which says that such records are government property and must be preserved.
New revelations emerging from the public hearings of the committee have been potentially dangerous for former US President Donald Trump, reports Yashwant Raj
Former US President Donald Trump is understood to be preparing to make an unusually early announcement of his third consecutive run for the White House.
The New York Times has reported that Trump told some aides recently that he could announce his 2024 run on social media, without even telling his own team. Aides are rushing, therefore, to put together a basic campaign infrastructure expecting the announcement as early as this month, the report added.
Trump first ran for the White House and won in 2016, beating Democrat Hillary Clinton. He had earlier swept aside a large and wide field of Republicans in the primaries, that included Jeb Bush of the clan of Bushes. He sought re-election in 2020 but lost comprehensively to Democrat Joe Biden. The 2024 run will be his third, if he does get into it.
Trump remains extremely popular in the Republican party with his poll numbers in the 80s. But he views the White House as a way to blunt possible fallouts for him from the ongoing congressional investigation of the January 6 insurrection, in which supporters, egged on by him, had attacked the US Congress to prevent a joint session of lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden as the victor of the November 2020 presidential election.
New revelations emerging from the public hearings of the committee have been potentially dangerous for the former President. It appears the insurrection was not a spontaneous action by his supporters and that it was a well-organised affairs with several of his top aides in the midst of it. He himself is understood to have been aware that the march on the US Capitol would be anything but peaceful, as he knew many of his supporters were armed.
Also, many candidates endorsed by Trump for the Republican primaries for the upcoming midterm election in November were defeated, showing his hold on the party may be weakening.
There are then Republicans who are mulling their own run for the White House, chiefly Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, former Vice President Mike Pence and Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. DeSantis has been doing well in polls and Pence is been more visible and vocal than in a long time.
The New York Times also reported that Trump’s close circle of advisers remains divided on the issues. Some of them don’t want him to run because they are sure of his political potency or what would be his message. Others want him to not do such a thing. Don Trump Jr, the former President’s eldest son, has told others that he would like his father to first put together an expansive campaign team.
Trump has yet to concede defeat in the 2020 election and continues to push his false claims of a stolen election and raised millions of dollars from his supporters to fight it. His claims have been thoroughly debunked by multiple election audits and courts. But he has not given up yet.
Some experts believe this inability to accept his defeat as a reason why he may not run at all despite his public posturing. A second loss would be fatal for his political clout. He could instead continue to wield considerable power in the party if he did not run and switch to the role of kingmaker.
The Bidens officiated one of the egg rolls, with the president blowing a whistle to start kids running down their lanes with a painted wooden spoon…reports Asian Lite News
The White House on Monday held the first Easter Egg Roll in two years, a longtime tradition interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“To all of you, have fun today and welcome to the White House,” US President Joe Biden said from the Blue Room balcony to a crowd of children and their parents.
Biden was joined by his wife – Jill Biden – and two Easter Bunnies on a rainy and chilly day.
“My job is to keep it from raining for another two minutes,” he joked.
The Bidens officiated one of the egg rolls, with the president blowing a whistle to start kids running down their lanes with a painted wooden spoon.
American television host and comedian Jimmy Fallon, whose daughter participated in the egg roll, was among the celebrities in attendance.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for this year’s White House Easter EGGucation Roll. It was a day full of joy, laughter, and learning. pic.twitter.com/YmPl5SluoO
Around 30,000 guests were expected to show up on the South Lawn at Monday’s event, according to the White House. But there were only a few individuals seen wearing a mask.
Covid-19 case numbers have begun to rise in the United States again, and nearly all of them were caused by the highly contagious Omicron subvariant BA.2.
White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha on Sunday urged Americans to get vaccinated and receive boosters if eligible.
“The good news is our vaccines are holding up really well against BA.2, against all of the Omicron variants, especially if you’ve been boosted,” Jha told a Fox News program.
“So the key here is you’ve got to have the initial two shots, and you’ve got to have a booster,” he continued. “That’s what’s really protecting people at this moment.”
A federal judge in Florida on Monday struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for airplanes and other public transport methods.
US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle said the order was unlawful because it exceeded the statutory authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC announced last week that it was extending the nationwide mask order for public transit for 15 days, as it monitors the uptick in Covid-19 cases.
Last week, Biden said “we’re making that decision,” although he muddied the waters by responding “yeah” when asked by a reporter whether he might go…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden is not planning to visit Kyiv, despite Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky urging him to demonstrate US support for the fight against Russia by traveling to the embattled capital, the White House said Monday.
“There’s no plans for the president to go. Let me just reiterate that,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
A string of European leaders have made the trip to Kyiv and met with Zelensky.
However, a Biden visit would present a more complex security challenge. The Biden administration has said it instead wants to send a high-ranking official, most likely Secretary of State Antony Blinken or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Last week, Biden said “we’re making that decision,” although he muddied the waters by responding “yeah” when asked by a reporter whether he might go.
Psaki made clear Monday that “if anyone were to go… we wouldn’t outline from here or anywhere from the government who, if and when for security reasons.”
Biden’s chief spokeswoman also confirmed that there are hopes of reopening the US embassy in Kyiv, although she gave no timeline.
“That certainly is our objective. Obviously having a diplomatic presence on the ground is important,” Psaki said.
In an interview aired by CNN on Sunday, Zelensky said “I think” Biden will visit, “but it’s his decision, of course, and about the safety situation, it depends.”
“I think he’s the leader of the United States and that’s why he should come here to see.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised Biden’s backing so far for his country in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS and said a visit by the US leader would “be an important message of support.”
“A personal meeting between two presidents could also pave the way for new supplies and of… US weapons to Ukraine and also for discussions on the possible political settlement of this conflict,” he added.
President Joe Biden speaks with transatlantic leaders to discuss concerns about Russia’s military build-up around Ukraine. (Photo_Twitter@POTUS)
The CCP leadership is calculating that assistance to Russia provided in the event of a kinetic conflict involving NATO would not result in any except token sanctions against China, writes Prof. Madhav Nalapat
The manner in which the White House has become obsessed with telegraphing its anxieties about an “imminent and unprovoked” invasion of Ukraine by Russia is raising concerns in the Indo-Pacific about the policy direction being taken by President Biden. This is because President Biden has allowed the administration to get distracted from the mounting risk of the PRC establishing its dominance over the Indo-Pacific. Such a development is taking place even as an expectedly energized Sino-Russian alliance is strengthening its primacy over the Eurasian landmass, where it has already moved ahead of the US in influence.
Changes in the relative positions of the US and China have compelled many European powers to (in effect) delink themselves from their previous path of simply following the US lead. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is the only European leader of a major power to align completely with the US on Russia, anticipating a revival of the era of the “Special Relationship” between London and Washington. The hysteria whipped up by embedded Atlanticist media of a Russian invasion “within days” that has yet to manifest itself has helped Boris Johnson to escape from the shadow of Partygate. Who remembers lockdown-era parties at 10 Downing Street when, as claimed by the Biden-Johnson duo, Russian missiles may soon be hitting parts of Europe for the first time since the 1941-45 war between Stalin’s USSR and Hitler’s Germany?
Russophobes in Ukraine such as former President Petro Poroshenko are calling for even harsher Atlanticist sanctions to be placed on Russia, even when no invasion of Ukraine has taken place. In his view, a premature imposition of sanctions would be the best way of ensuring that Russia does not invade Ukrainian territory. They may instead be an effective way of convincing President Vladimir V. Putin that there is no longer any utility in adopting a policy of restraint holding back annexation of the eastern part of Ukraine. Such forbearance would no longer be of any use if even without such a move, sanctions of the magnitude sought by Poroshenko were imposed by Biden, his eager ally Boris Johnson, and less enthusiastic allies such as Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz.
The Social Democratic Party under Willy Brandt and Gerhard Schroeder was known for its Ostpolitik, the (West) German outreach to Moscow. Chancellor Scholz, who is from the SDP, is aware that the cutting off of Nord Stream I & II gas supplies from Russia would cripple the German economy. The fallout would render his party unelectable to national office for more than a decade, in the manner that Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder’s harsh economic reforms ensured that the rival Christian Democratic Union came to power in the next election, surrendering control of the national government only after the Merkel era ended.
CHINA THE ONLY GAINER
As President of the Ukraine, billionaire Petro Poroshenko oversaw an attempt at military occupation of the Russian-speaking eastern districts of Ukraine. This attempt happened after receiving encouraging signals from the EU and NATO about prospective membership. Both these promises have receded. His successor Volodymyr Zelensky may have looked for a while on achieving glory by militarily re-occupying the estranged eastern regions, but seems to have accepted that such a move would trigger a Russian invasion. This would plunge Ukraine into chaos, as to a lesser extent it would much of Europe. As has been the case during the past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the only major power to gain out of such a situation would be China, which would get a much freer hand in the Indo-Pacific now that Washington and its European allies were distracted by a major European war. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin may speak in public of his confidence in the ability of the US military to prevail in a simultaneous kinetic war against Russia in the Europe front and China in the Indo-Pacific. The problem is that China, Russia, India, the EU, Japan and Southeast Asia know that Austin is unaware of, or uncaring of, the factual situation while expressing such confidence.
War is not simply a function of current US capabilities, but equally its willingness to enter into a two-front conflict. Contrary to those who claim that action against Russia would deter China from aggression against Taiwan for instance, a major European war would hobble any US attempt to kinetically interfere in the event of a similar conflict involving China in parts of Asia. Unlike some in the NATO leadership, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping would be well aware of this. The saving grace is that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is unlikely to risk another Crimea fiasco, this time in the eastern parts of Ukraine. Such an outcome would result, were Zelensky to order the military to occupy the Russian-speaking provinces. President Putin, who is not a gambler, would not invade the eastern territories of Ukraine the absence of such a provocation. Despite this, President Biden continues to hype up rhetoric of an immediate invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Why is he, in a way, goading Putin into going to war? Has President Biden been assured by the DIA and the CIA that Putin will, as Gorbachev and Yeltsin did, accept such a humiliation with no reaction beyond a sulk? Biden’s Cold War 1.0 posturing comes just months after the humiliating manner in which the US military left Afghanistan after kneecapping the Afghan military.
The 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan by Biden gifted not merely a country but tens of billions of dollars worth of military and other assets to the very enemy that NATO had at great cost in lives and resources been fighting for two decades. France and Germany would not wish to risk the future of their populations by doing what was avoided during Cold War 1.0, by the initiation of a military conflict with Russia. US President Biden cannot be unaware that Moscow is being assisted by Beijing against the US in the manner that North Vietnam was kept going during the 1960s and until the US withdrawal. This was through help from Beijing and Moscow to enable Ho Chi Minh to kinetically defeat Washington’s bid to prevent the North’s conquest of South Vietnam. The Vietnam War diverted US attention away from eastern Europe in the same way as a conflict involving NATO with Russia would divert the attention and resources of that alliance away from PRC activities in the Indo-Pacific for an indefinite period. Small wonder that it would be in the PRC interest to keep the flames burning in Europe.
BIDEN FAMILY LINKS WITH UKRAINE
An explanation given by Beltway insiders for President Joe Biden’s fixation on Russia and Ukraine that is still at the whispering stage, but is gaining traction, is that some in the Biden family (since the time the 46th President was US Vice-President) had developed lucrative links with Ukrainian oligarchs who were intensely Russophobic. The oligarchs sought US backing to humiliate and politically weaken Putin by accepting Ukrainian military occupation of the Russian-speaking parts of eastern Ukraine. Their claim is that President Biden will face a Ukrainegate by 2023 that could result in his removal from office. This is possible, they say, should the Republican Party look energetically into Biden family links with Ukraine in the way that Democrats did in the matter of an investigation into Trump’s links with Russia. Given that the personal integrity of Joe and Jill Biden are impeccable, it is unlikely that the President himself would have fallen under the spell of any oligarch. The possibility remains that a few others close to him may not have had the same level of integrity, and may be influencing Biden’s high-decibel Cold War 1.0 policy towards Russia.
What is assisting Biden in his Russian obsession is the persistence of a similar Cold War 1.0 fixation in Washington, despite the USSR having collapsed more than thirty years ago. This has ensured that his tough line towards Russia, even when opposed to US interests in the Indo-Pacific and its global primacy, is securing bipartisan support in a manner not seen since Barack Obama became the first African-American President of the US in 2009. It helps efforts at preventing an investigation of a possible Ukrainegate that the Sino-Wahhabi nexus has friends in both the Republican as well as the Republican Party. Elements in both remain united in seeking to draw US attention back towards Russia and away from the PRC, or to PRC linkages with Wahhabi groups.
The Sino-Wahabi lobby would have an interest in seeing that its friends in the Washington Beltway avoid mention of any Ukraine connection by some close to Biden. Under Xi, China has strengthened two complementary alliance structures, (a) its partnership with Russia and (b) its assistance in asymmetric activities by the Wahhabi International. Both alliances are being leveraged by Xi to establish PRC primacy, supplanting the US. NATO posturing and force reinforcements involving the Ukraine situation that are being promoted by the White House and 10 Downing Street acts as a sponge absorbing the oxygen of that alliance away from China and the Indo-Pacific and back towards Russia. Unfortunately, rather than reconfigure itself to meet the challenges of Cold War 2.0, NATO appears to be more eager to return to its Cold War 1.0 mode and concentrate on Russia rather than China.
During the just concluded meeting of Quad foreign ministers, efforts appears to have been made by Australia and Japan to persuade Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to consent to mention of Russia in the context of Ukraine in the Quad joint statement. According to informed individuals, Jaishankar pointed out that such a mention would draw attention sharply away from the main preoccupation of the Quad, which remained the securing of a free, inclusive and open Indo-Pacific. Neither Japan nor Australia pressed the point, perhaps aware that what Jaishankar argued was the truth. Mention was therefore avoided of Russia and Ukraine in the joint statement of the Quad foreign ministers. The gesture may have been reciprocated by Russia through avoiding mention of the Quad in the latest joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China.
The External Affairs Minister was forthright in his public utterances during the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting, identifying China as a worry, as a country that refuses to abide by its commitments, and which ignores settled international laws and conventions whenever it regards it as expedient to do so. There is unease not just within the Quad but within ASEAN at the Biden pivot back to Cold War 1.0, reversing the Obama-era (somewhat half hearted) pivot to the Indo-Pacific, now that the lightning withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan has already generated substantial doubts about the will of the Biden administration to fight in theatres in ways more substantive than verbal exchanges and breathing fire in television studios.
OUTREACH BY KAMALA HARRIS
The good news for countries in the Indo-Pacific that are concerned about the manner in which the PRC has been encroaching on the land and territorial waters of several countries is that US Vice-President Kamala Harris has quietly been establishing ties with the leaders of several key countries in the Indo-Pacific. She appears to have succeeded in giving a view of Administration policy that inspires more confidence than recent words and actions by the White House do. The worry for countries in the Indo-Pacific with access to information from Ukraine is that Russophobic elements within the Ukrainian military may launch attacks on the two regions in eastern Ukraine that are presently outside the control of the Ukrainian military. The expectation of such Russophobe adventurers may be that NATO would assist them in a war against the Russian-speaking population of the two breakaway districts. They expect that this would be in the manner that the Atlantic Alliance helped anti-Assad groups in Syria and anti-Gaddafi groups in Libya, this despite the visible extremism of several such “freedom fighters”. Given that President Putin may launch an invasion of the Baltic states (that are members of NATO) as an “escalation dominance” reaction to NATO backing of irregular Ukrainian troops making war on the Russian-speaking part of Ukraine, the alliance may have to choose between doing nothing or going to war with Russia (which would be assisted by China in order to sink NATO in a European quagmire).
That may not, however, stop elements of the Ukrainian military from attacks on the Russian-speaking population in these two districts, the only inhibiting factor being not NATO and its warlike signalling but the seeming determination of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to prevent such provocations from the Ukrainian side. From the separatist side as well , provocations may be attempted on populations to their west, so as to draw Russian troops into the conflict. Such moves are likely to be disfavoured by President Putin, who is well aware of the manner in which a European war would strengthen China while it weakens both NATO and Russia. What is likelier than an outright invasion to mortar fire into the east would be an expansion of Russian supplies to the Russian-speaking population in east Ukraine, thereby possibly sparking off another civil war in Ukraine. This after the previous episode ended in disaster for Ukraine, with two eastern districts being detached from the control of Kyiv.
Despite his slim resume in geopolitical problem solving, President Zelensky has shown himself to be realist, no matter what his stage roles were in the past. He is avoiding the traps set either by Moscow or by Washington and Brussels, and holding back his hotheads from risking a conflagration. Ordinary Ukrainians and the President himself have chided Washington, London and Brussels publicly for their panic-mongering. The messaging from the White House and 10 Downing Street in particular is reminiscent of statements that generated fear within several countries. This was caused by the doomsday signalling of the WHO since March 2020 about Covid-19. The doomsday signalling caused a fear of Covid-19 that resulted in measures such as lockdowns that set back the world economy (barring a few countries such as China) by several years. The CCP leadership is calculating that assistance to Russia provided in the event of a kinetic conflict involving NATO would not result in any except token sanctions against China, and thus far, actions by NATO member states appear to be proving them right. The good news is that a Zelensky rather than a Poroshenko in the Presidential Palace in Kyiv is unlikely to light the spark that could kindle the flames of a war with Russia that may subsequently, in an action-reaction dynamic, engulf NATO.
A PASSIVE FOE
The White House, assisted by the NATO leadership and 10 Downing Street, has sought to justify its activism over Russia by warning that if Moscow is not deterred by the Atlantic and indeed the Indo-Pacific alliance, Taiwan would be the next domino to fall, this time to China. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping as well as President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan would have factored in the pacifism in deeds despite the fire in rhetoric that characterises the response of the Biden White House to the prospect of war with Russia. Unlike in Ukraine, where the Russian-speaking population is being treated as outsiders, in Taiwan, even those who openly support a PRC takeover, such as the formidable KMT leaders Hung Hsiu-chu face no harassment from the Tsai government. Indeed, the opposition party (KMT) is characterised by its pro-PRC approach, as distinct from the party in power, the DPP. Nor is President Tsai about to declare the independence of Taiwan publicly, thereby giving hawks in Beijing a reason to initiate a kinetic conflict with a fellow Han population, which would result in Han killing Han. Most importantly, should the PRC succeed in invading and occupying Taiwan, the brainpower that has powered Taiwan’s rise as an Information Technology superpower since the 1990s would in the initial stages itself take non-stop flights to US and European destinations, where they would be welcomed for their expertise. Territory in Taiwan is of little value in the absence of the willing compliance of the few tens of thousands of innovative and entrepreneurial minds that have ensured that the per capita income of Taiwan is several times higher than that of the PRC. This is something that those around CCP General Secretary Xi who understand the complexities of a modern economy better than the fire-breathing PLA higher staff.
Rather than deter China, the ongoing retreat by President Biden in lockstep with the NATO higher command back towards Moscow rather than continue onwards in the direction of Beijing would only energize the CCP leadership into multiplying efforts at seeking primacy over the Indo-Pacific. Unlike the daily barrage of barbs and military movements sparked by Russia conducting kinetic exercises within its own borders, the response to PRC provocations of the US, UK and NATO have consisted only of symbolic actions, such as media-directed ship movements accompanied by statements from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
The NATO Secretary-General appears to have been assigned the aggressive role, even as the leaders of major members of NATO remain passive in action, especially while they make bi-annual pilgrimages to Beijing. Small wonder that President Putin may reach the conclusion that a kinetic demonstration of the deadly capabilities of Russian forces would ensure that NATO members, both collectively and individually, follow their approach to China and in the case of Russia as well put emphasis on non-violence, first in Ukraine and subsequently in the Baltic states. Ukraine and Taiwan have been linked together by the White House. Such passivity by NATO is after all what the alliance displays to multiple PLA incursions into Taiwanese air and sea space (with land possibly to follow), and to hostile takeover of territory in countries such as the Philippines and elsewhere None of these have resulted in any sanctions of consequence against the PRC. With NATO as a foe, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping has no need of friends.
Gautam Raghavan WH.jpg: Gautam Raghavan who has been appointed director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (Photo: White House)
Gautam Raghavan was the first employee hired by Biden’s Transition Team and served as the deputy head of presidential appointments, reports Asian Lite News
Catherine Russel, head of the White House personnel office, has been appointed Executive Director of Unicef and Indian-origin Gautam Raghavan will be her replacement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Thursday that he was appointing Russel to head the UN arm devoted to the welfare of children, and almost simultaneously US President Joe Biden appointed Raghavan to succeed her at the White House.
Russel follows another American, Henrietta Fore, who became the head of Unicef in 2018 and quit this year.
The job of Unicef head has traditionally gone to Americans, whose government is the largest contributor to the organisation. (In 2020, Washington provided $801 million of the $7 billion contributions it received.)
Raghavan was Russel’s Deputy at the White House Office of Presidential Personnel which is in charge of vetting and recruiting political appointees to about 4,000 jobs that are not career civil service positions.
Biden said that his appointment will ensure a “seamless transition that will enable us to continue building a federal workforce that is efficient, effective, dependable, and diverse”.
Raghavan was the first employee hired by Biden’s Transition Team and served as the deputy head of presidential appointments, according to the White House.
From there he went on to become deputy director of the personnel office with the title of deputy assistant to the President.
The Stanford University graduate was born in India and grew up in Seattle.
He is openly gay, and according to the White House “he lives with his husband and their daughter in Washington”.
He worked in the White House Office of Public Engagement as liaison to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community as well as the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the administration of former President Barack Obama.
Gautam Raghavan (Image Credit: Twitter)
He has been an adviser to the Biden Foundation.
His resume includes a stint as the chief of staff for Pramila Jayapal, the Indian-origin Democratic member of the House of Representatives who is the chair of the leftist group of lawmakers known as the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
In her long political and administrative career, Russell has been the US Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, associate deputy attorney general and an adviser on women’s issues to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
