Biden's UN Nominee Supports China Sanctions, Taiwan Arms Sales

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said she would support sanctions against China and will lead an effort to stop the country from taking over international standards-setting bodies. She said she also will take aggressive measures to counter China’s growing role at the United Nations and its human rights violations. “I see that as my highest priority,” she told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jan. 27 during confirmation proceedings.

China is a “strategic competitor” that “poses challenges to our security and to our prosperity and to our values,” Thomas-Greenfield said. She also said China is using the U.N. to drive an “authoritarian agenda” that allows it to continue its human rights violations in the Xinjiang region (see 2012160017), adding that the U.S. will be “calling the Chinese out whenever we see them crossing lines.”

“It also may mean that we have to use other instruments that we have, including the possibility of sanctions, including the possibility of flexing our muscles,” Thomas-Greenfield said. Sanctions experts criticized the Trump administration for imposing sanctions and other trade restrictions without a clear strategy or promise of relief (see 2004240025 and 1912180027), but Thomas-Greenfield said she would support sanctions specifically designed to change China’s behavior. “None of us want to encourage or support a conflict,” Thomas-Greenfield said, “and that is not the intent here.”

She also made clear that China holds too many leadership positions at U.N. agencies, including standards-setting bodies for sensitive technologies. Technology experts have called for a clearer U.S. strategy for emerging technology standards-setting to counter China’s growing tech leadership (see 2005080040). “Across the board for the United Nations I will be fighting to ensure that either Americans or like-minded allies hold those significant positions,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

She also called for more U.S. support for Taiwan, calling it “one of the strongest democracies in the region.” She said she would support U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan despite criticism from Beijing, which has sanctioned U.S. companies over arms exports to the island (see 2010260017). “I have to leave that to the powers who make those kinds of decisions,” Thomas-Greenfield said of the arms sales, but added that the U.S. should provide Taiwan “the security that they need to push against any efforts by the Chinese to compromise their security.”

The U.S. must also do a better job of working with U.N. countries on multilateral sanctions against Iran and North Korea, Thomas-Greenfield said. She plans to work with Russia and China to “put more pressure on the Iranians to push them back into strict compliance” with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (see 2011200018).

“I think one of the biggest failings of the Trump administration is that they did try to go it alone,” she said. “So reengaging with South Korea, with Japan, as well as with China and Russia, particularly to push for their respect of the sanctions regime against North Korea, is going to be really important.”

Thomas-Greenfield was the latest in a string of Biden nominees to promise aggressive action toward China, joining Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines (see 2101190060) and nominee for commerce secretary Gina Raimondo (see 2101260047). The Biden administration began a comprehensive review of U.S. trade and sanctions policies involving China (see 2101250049) but is expected to maintain the overall trajectory of restrictions begun under the Trump administration, which has bipartisan support (see 2101190062, 2011250054 and 2011250019).