US Sec State Blinken's China Speech Postponed

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his anticipated China speech at the George Washington University today, following a positive COVID-19 test.

• The speech was designed to outline 'the Administration’s policy toward the People’s Republic of China' and was expected to reaffirm containment of China as the primary focus of US foreign policy despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
• Admiral Michael Gilday warned last week that the China is likely to be military and economically dominant in Asia-Pacific by 2027 and US military officials and lawmakers have voiced concern that the war in Ukraine may distract the administration from objectives in Asia, including the safeguarding of Taiwanese sovereignty.
• Gilday: 'They’ve [China] exceeded every deadline they’ve ever set for themselves. And so their deadline by 2050 really to be a global power by — it used to be 2035, and now it looks like 2027 to be regionally dominant militarily and economically.'
• Blinken's speech will now take place later in the month and will provide a framework for the Biden administration's strategy for China which is understood to have been developed in parallel to the delayed National Security Strategy.
• Pressing items in the strategy are understood to be the establishment of 'guardrails' to prevent a military escalation between the two powers, greater nuclear communication, and an agreement with China to curtail the flow of synthetic opioids.