Washington: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has singled out China’s “blatant economic coercion of Australia” as an example of the urgent threats democratic nations around the world face from increasingly assertive authoritarian regimes.

In a major speech on America’s alliances, Blinken said the Biden administration will not force countries into an “us or them” choice with China. But he called for democratic nations to work closer together to counter the rising superpower’s “aggressive actions” and technological advancements.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said economic coercion by China was one of the major threats to global stability. Credit:Bloomberg

Blinken, who clashed spectacularly with Chinese diplomats at a meeting in Alaska last week, said he would particularly like to see democratic nations join forces to develop an global alternative to China’s 5G technology.

“There’s no question that Beijing’s coercive behaviour threatens our collective security and prosperity, and that it is actively working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we and our allies share,” Blinken said in a speech at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“But that doesn’t mean that countries can’t work with China where possible, for example, on challenges like climate change and health security.

Blinken said the Biden administration knows its allies have “complex relationships with China that won’t always align perfectly”.

“But we need to navigate these challenges together,” he said.

“That means working with our allies to close the gaps in areas like technology and infrastructure, where Beijing is exploiting to exert coercive pressure.

“We’ll rely on innovation, not ultimatums.”

Blinken said the major threats faced by the US and its allies could be grouped into three categories, with the first being military threats from countries such as China and Russia.

Democracies need to develop an alternative to Huawei’s 5G. Credit:Bloomberg

“We see this in China’s efforts to threaten freedom of navigation, to militarise the South China Sea, to target countries throughout the Indo-Pacific with increasingly sophisticated military capabilities,” he said.

“Beijing’s military ambitions are growing by the year.”

The second category was non-military threats in the form of “technological, economic, and informational tactics that threaten our security”.

“From China’s blatant economic coercion of Australia, to Russia’s use of disinformation to erode confidence in elections and in safe, effective vaccines – these aggressive actions threaten not only our individual countries, but also our shared values,” he said.

The third category was global crises such as climate change and COVID-19.

Blinken said the co-ordinated sanctions imposed this by Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom on Chinese officials for atrocities committed against Uighurs in Xinjiang was a model to follow in the future.

Retaliatory sanctions by China “make it all the more important that we stand firm and stand together, or else risk sending the message that bullying works”, he said.

Blinken said he was concerned that modern communications technology was “being encroached upon by our adversaries”.

“Consider 5G, where China’s technology brings serious surveillance risks,” he said.

“We should bring together tech companies from countries like Sweden, Finland, South Korea, the United States, and use public and private investment to foster a secure and trustworthy alternative.”

Blinken said the elevation of the “Quad” – a strategic dialogue between the US, Australia, India and Japan – to leaders-level meetings this month demonstrated the importance the Biden administration places on alliances.

“We share a vision of a free, open, inclusive, and healthy Indo-Pacific region, unconstrained by coercion, and anchored by democratic values,” he said of the four Quad nations. “We make a good team.”

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