布林肯是美国新总统拜登所选择的国务卿人选,也是拜登内阁成员中的最重要职务。布林肯在上任前,必须在国会参议院接受审查和问话,昨天他在美国国会参议院外交委员会听证会上的讲话,使我们有机会了解他的外交理念,特别是他今后的对华政策。
布林肯首先指出,经济上的自由化并没有给中国带来政治上的自由化,他说:“我认为近年来,特别是习近平升为领导人以来,中国已经抛弃了“韬光养晦”政策。”(原话:“I think what we’ve seen in recent years, particularly since the rise of Xi Jinping as leader, has been that the hiding and biding has gone away,” )
他接着说:“我认为特朗普总统对中国强硬,在取向上是正确的...... 我不同意他的很多具体措施,但是(他)在基本原则上是正确的,实际上对今后美国的对外政策是有帮助的。”(原话:“I also believe that President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China...... I disagree very much with the way that he went about it in a number of areas, but the basic principle was the right one, and I think that’s actually helpful to our foreign policy.”)
拜登在竞选过程中,曾经宣称中国在新疆的行为是“种族灭绝”genocide。昨天在听证会上,格雷汉姆Graham参议员(特朗普的积极支持者)问布林肯是否同意拜登的提法,布林肯说,他同意拜登的判断。他说:“把男女老少关进集中营,试图对他们按照中共的意识形态进行再教育,这一切就是在进行“种族灭绝”。(原话:“Forcing men, women and children into concentration camps, trying to in effect re-educate them to be adherents to the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, all of that speaks to an effort to commit genocide,......" )
著名的对华鹰派参议员卢比奥Rubio在听证会上问布林肯:“中国共产党的目标是在世界政治、地缘政治、经济、军事上成为压倒美国的优势力量,并在两国关系中削弱美国,对此你是否有任何怀疑?”(原话:“Do you have any doubt in your mind that the goal of the Chinese Communist Party is to be the world‘s predominant political, geopolitical, military and economic power? And for the United States to decline in relation?” )布林肯明确表示同意,他还说:“毫无疑问,在所有国家中,中国是对美国国家利益和美国人民利益的最重大挑战。”(原话:“As we look at China, there is no doubt that it poses the most significant challenge of any nation-state, to the United States, in terms of our interests, the interests of the American people,”)
在台湾问题上,布林肯没有宣布美国是否继续奉行“一个中国”政策,他强调拜登政府将“绝对坚持”其决心,确保台湾拥有抵抗中国的能力,如果中国侵犯台湾,“那将是他们的重大失误。”(原话:“That would be a grievous mistake on their part,”)
看来布林肯将继承特朗普、彭佩奥的“对中国强硬”政策,虽然他说他不同意某些做法,但是没有具体说明他将怎么做。在香港问题上,他暗示美国应该考虑接纳香港人的移民要求。
布林肯并表示,他在今后将与共和党人密切合作。