STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States is looking to scrutinize China's commitments under an investment deal that was signed in late December between the European Union and China, a senior State Department official told VOA Tuesday.
It comes as U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is working closely with European allies to push back on what American officials describe as China's undermining activities to shared values and the rules based international order.
“If China did make additional concessions in that agreement on things like market access, on forced labor, we certainly welcome that, although we really would look to the Chinese to prove that that's not just cheap talk, and that they're going to implement those commitments,” said , the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary in charge of European and Eurasian Affairs.
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment is seen as a geopolitical win for China, and a blow to transatlantic relations despite concerns over the deal in the European Parliament.
In a recent interview with VOA, Montgomery also said the United States is committed to working with the European Union, which facilitates the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo. Her comments come as Kosovo’s Vetevendosje party leader Albin Kurti is set to become prime minister after the February 14 elections.
Kurti has said that forming a negotiating team for dialogue with Serbia would not be a priority for his government.
When asked about the possibility of a U.S.-brokered dialogue, Montgomery told VOA: “We certainly continue to support the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and to look toward a comprehensive agreement, a normalization agreement that would lead to mutual recognition, or on the basis of mutual recognition.”
The following are excerpts from the interview. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What is the top policy priority of Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs in coming years?
I think the president has made it very clear beginning with his inaugural address that our priority really is to rebuild our relationships with our allies and partners in Europe. We believe that they are the cornerstone of everything that we are trying to do, whether that is fighting COVID-19, or climate change, or pushing back against malign activities from Russia and China. We want to be working with our European partners. But we also, I will say, continue to believe that our goal for Europe is really a Europe whole, free, prosperous and at peace. So we'll be working toward that goal for the next four years.
As China is competing with the U.S. for vaccine distribution and post-pandemic recovery in Europe, what is your takeaway on the recent China-CEEC group, also known as “17 plus 1,” virtual summit between China and Central and Eastern Europe countries?
I think all countries, whether it's the United States or Europe, have a multifaceted and very complex relationship with China. There are parts of that relationship that are adversarial. Some of it is competitive and there are also areas where we want to cooperate with China. And so, I think our focus really is working on a multilateral basis with our allies and partners to strengthen our cooperation, and to look at areas where we can cooperate with China, such as on climate change, but also to be aware that there are economic activities that we want to push back on. There are threats to our values and there are human rights violations, such as we've seen in Xinjiang and in Hong Kong. And particularly the genocide — [about which] the U.S. government has been very clear — has been committed against mostly Muslim Uighurs in China. And so we're really focused on working with our allies and our partners to develop an affirmative agenda as we look at this complex relationship with China, and to defend our values and our shared interests as well.
We are hearing voices from European countries doubting the U.S. is unwavering in its position on the policy determination that genocide has been committed against Uighurs in Xinjiang. Is the U.S. wavering in its position?
The United States has been very clear — Secretary Blinken has been very clear — that we believe that what has happened in Xinjiang is genocide, that we have seen crimes against humanity committed against the Uighurs. And we've been very clear that these are very serious crimes and that there needs to be accountability. We have condemned these activities, these crimes — and we have made it clear that we need to see a stop to these human rights violations, to forced sterilizations, to torture, to other crimes that have been perpetrated primarily against mostly Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, especially.
