MR PRICE: Thank you very much and thank you all for joining this afternoon. We are pleased to have the opportunity to preview the Secretary’s upcoming trip to Indonesia and Thailand tomorrow. This call is being recorded but is embargoed until the call ends. We have two speakers with us today. We have Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Dan Kritenbrink; we also have our Assistant Secretary from the Office of Economic and Business Affairs, Ramin Toloui. Assistant Secretary of State Kritenbrink will open it, and then we’ll turn it over to Assistant Secretary of State Toloui, and then we’ll take your questions.
I will hereby turn the matter over to Assistant Secretary of State Kritenbrink.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK: Excellent. Thanks, Ned, and thanks to all our friends in the media for joining us. It is indeed a pleasure to be with you again, and I am delighted to be joined today by my colleague and friend, Assistant Secretary Ramin Toloui.
It’s been a very busy few months for us at the department, of course, which I think reflects how determined the Biden-Harris administration is to strengthen our partnerships and alliances around the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Indo-Pacific, where through sustained engagement both here and in the region, we have proven that the 21st century is the Indo-Pacific century.
As we announced just this morning and as Ned mentioned, Secretary Blinken will be traveling to Bali, Indonesia to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Our Indonesian friends have done an admirable job as Chair of the G20 and the Secretary looks forward to meeting his good friend, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, also for a bilateral meeting. Of course, the Secretary has just seen Foreign Minister Retno at the G7 and they will have an opportunity to discuss expanding our bilateral strategic partnership. While in Bali, the Secretary will also meet with his PRC counterpart, .
I will let Assistant Secretary of State Toloui speak about the substance of the G20 meeting itself, but after his meetings in Bali, the Secretary will next travel to Bangkok. And as you may recall, the Secretary’s trip to Thailand was postponed at the last minute last December, and since then the Secretary has been very determined to return to Bangkok to engage with one of our strongest allies in the Indo-Pacific. Thailand is, of course, a key partner of the United States in many areas, including achieving our climate goals and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Our mission in Thailand is one of the largest in the world. It provides support to our many missions in the region and serves as a hub for our regional health initiatives, as we have more than six decades of public health cooperation with our Thai allies.
The US-Thailand defense alliance is of utmost importance. Cobra Gold, a joint defense exercise co-hosted with Thailand, is the longest-running multinational military exercise in the region. And our friends in Thailand also did an outstanding job as host of APEC this year, and we look forward to building on Thailand’s success as the United States prepares to host APEC in 2023. Thailand is also an important partner as we work to return Burma to the path of democracy.
As I mentioned at the summit, we believe that much of the history of the 21st century will be written in the Indo-Pacific. We believe this is especially true when it comes to trade and investment. With more than half the world’s population, some of the world’s fastest growing economies and nearly 60 percent of global GDP, the region is central to our long-term strategic, economic and business interests. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, unveiled by the President in Tokyo in May, is an integral part of realizing our vision of an open, connected, prosperous, resilient and secure Indo-Pacific, and we are pleased that both Indonesia and Thailand have joined the IPEF.
With that, I will leave it here and now turn it over to my colleague, Assistant Secretary Toloui. We look forward to your questions later. Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY TOLOUI: Thank you very much, Dan, and thank you also to the journalists who joined the discussion today about the trip and the meeting of the G20 foreign ministers, which takes place at a time of major global challenges and serves as a reminder of why we must also strengthen our commitment to work with international partners .
As Dan noted, we are grateful to the Indonesian government for its leadership of this year’s G20. The theme chosen by Indonesia – “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” – is particularly resonant as it focuses international cooperation on priority areas that will define our present and shape our future: global food and energy security, global health security architecture, digital transformation, and sustainable energy.
As evidenced by our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the G20 is a key force to catalyze and strengthen joint action. When the pandemic was at its worst, G20 members came together to offer help to vulnerable countries, and this important work continues.
We also appreciate that Indonesia has made food security a priority for the G20, and indeed our cooperation in addressing this pressing global challenge is in stark contrast to Russia’s unconscionable war against Ukraine. The Kremlin has caused great – immeasurable damage not only to the people of Ukraine, but also to many millions around the world. It is Russia’s unprovoked war that has exacerbated the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable countries. By ravaging Ukrainian farms and grain silos, stealing Ukrainian grain, and blocking access to and from Ukrainian ports by sea, Russia has increased the food insecurity, malnutrition, and disease susceptibility of the world’s most vulnerable population. G20 countries should hold Russia accountable and insist that it supports ongoing UN efforts to reopen sea lanes for grain deliveries.
The G20’s attention to such issues and working together to increase humanitarian aid and support for those suffering from Russia’s war demonstrates our determination to ensure — our determination to ensure that this aggression does not go unchecked and to strengthen our commitment to the international system , which is rules-based and supports global stability and development.
Now Dan and I are happy to take your questions.
MR PRICE : Great. Operator, if you wouldn’t mind repeating the instructions for asking the question.
OPERATOR: Absolutely. To join the question queue, you can use your phone’s keypad to press 1 followed by 0. That’s 1 and then 0, please.
MR PRICE : Great. Let’s start with a word from Reuters’ David Brunnstrom.
QUESTION: Yes, hello. Can you hear me well?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY TOLOUI: Yes.
QUESTION: Okay. Thank you very much for this call. I wonder if you can tell us a little about what the purpose of the meeting with the Chinese foreign minister is. I mean, what’s the real priority there? And again, if there is no meeting with the Russian foreign minister, what does that say about the relative state of relations between the two countries and the US relationship with China vis-à-vis Russia? And regarding China, will there be any discussion on the tariff issue? Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK: Well, thank you very much for the question. I would say that our top priority in the Minister’s meeting with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to emphasize our commitment to intensive diplomacy and to maintaining open lines of communication with the People’s Republic of China. We have often stated that our goal is to responsibly manage the intense competition between the United States and the PRC. Therefore, I would expect that at this meeting we can discuss putting up guardrails, so to speak, for the relationship, so that our competition does not turn into misjudgments or confrontation.
At the same time, I would emphasize, as the Secretary of State emphasized in his recent speech on China, that the United States also remains committed to exploring areas of potential cooperation where our interests require it. Therefore, I would also expect to exchange information on our potential cooperation on issues such as climate change, global health, the fight against drugs, and perhaps other areas as well.
MR PRICE: And in terms of your question about the comparison between the two countries – that’s Ned – I would just add, as Dan mentioned, that our bilateral relationship with the PRC is complicated. It is a relationship that is sometimes competitive, sometimes adversarial, sometimes cooperative. And that’s why it’s in our interest to constantly cooperate and dialogue to establish and strengthen these guardrails so that competition doesn’t come into conflict. In many ways, the current state of our Russia – the current state of our relations with Russia is simple. It’s simple because Russia is waging an unprovoked, brutal war against the people and country of Ukraine.
And so, for that reason, it is not the right time for the Secretary to work with Foreign Minister Lavrov. You should not expect bilateral cooperation with Foreign Minister Lavrov during this visit. We want, we would like to see the Russians get serious about diplomacy. We haven’t seen this before. We would like the Russians to give us a reason to have a bilateral meeting with them, with Foreign Minister Lavrov, but the only thing we have seen from Moscow is more brutality and aggression against the people and the country of Ukraine.
Let’s go to Shaun Tandon’s line.
QUESTION: Hello. Thank you for this call as well. Just briefly to follow up on David’s question and then some. Given Russia and what Ned said about not meeting Lavrov, do you expect the Secretary to try to avoid him at all costs? Won’t he want to be in the same room as him? What does this mean for the wider G20 meetings? How far will you go to avoid him?
Can I ask you about Myanmar/Burma? As you know, Wang Yi was actually only in Myanmar, if I’m not mistaken, or he was talking to the junta. There and with him and within – in Thailand, where do you see – where do you see things going? Are you — are you even hopeful that there might be progress in moving the junta? How – where do you see things going now and what do you expect this journey to achieve or not? thank you
MR PRICE : Regarding your first question, Shaun, I mentioned earlier that the Secretary will be a full and active participant in the G20. We are committed to the success of this G20 ministerial meeting. We are committed to the success of Indonesia’s G20 leadership. We will not talk about the choreography at this stage, but we expect that the Secretary will be able to be a full and active participant while remaining true to another main goal, and that is the fact that it cannot be business as usual with the Russian Federation.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK: Regarding your question about Burma, I would certainly expect the subject of Burma to feature prominently in both the Secretary’s series of meetings on the sidelines of the G20 and his subsequent meetings in Bangkok. And I would expect this to be an opportunity for the minister to continue his strongest condemnation of the brutal actions of the Burmese military regime since the coup, killing nearly 2,000 people and displacing more than 700,000 others. This is also an opportunity for us to — again, to continue with our ASEAN partners in promoting the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, to continue to increase the pressure on the regime to cut off its sources of funding, and again to apply the necessary pressure to force Burma let him return to the path of democracy.
And I think that with our Thai partners, for example, this will be an opportunity to express our gratitude for what Thailand has done to help the vulnerable population and provide cross-border aid. So again, I certainly think Burma will feature prominently in the Secretary’s discussion.
MR PRICE: We will answer a few more questions. Let’s go to the Nike Ching line from the Voice of America.
QUESTION: Thank you very much for taking the call and briefing. To follow up on David’s question about Secretary Blinken’s meeting with Wang Yi, do you have anything on the US message to China regarding wrongly detained Chinese Americans in China and illegal exit bans?
And separately, do you have any thoughts on the US plan to extend the export ban to China due to security and human rights concerns?
And also, what is the US message to China regarding Myanmar, since Beijing has a lot of influence over Myanmar’s military government?
And finally, the Ukrainian foreign minister was also invited to the G20 ministerial meeting. Is there any interaction between Secretary Blinken and Kuleba? Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK: Hi, Nike. Dan Kritenbrink. Look, we’ve always been clear about the exit ban that the United States and the State Department have no higher priority than the safety and well-being of American citizens abroad, and that’s certainly the case in the cases you mention. And so I think you can fully expect the United States to continue to work vigorously on behalf of all American citizens, including in the specific cases that you mentioned.
Now, on the issue that you raised, if I understand your question correctly, the steps that the United States could take in response to human rights and other concerns — and here, Nike, I would just say that human rights issues remain as well at the heart of American foreign affairs. policy and our cooperation with the People’s Republic of China. And I fully expect that when the Secretary sits down with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, he will also have an opportunity to express our views and our concerns regarding human rights.
MR PRICE: And just on your last question, Nike, the Secretary will also engage in engagements, including bilateral engagements with other participants on the sidelines of the G20, in addition to the bilateral with Wang Yi and beyond the bilateral with the Indonesian counterpart. We’ll have more information on these deals as the time gets closer.
Let’s go to Will Mauldin, Wall Street Journal.
QUESTION: Thank you so much for having this. I wanted to ask, given the economic reality and the war in Ukraine, is it fair to say that food and energy will be the main topics of the G20, since it is somewhat of an economic organization? And then – will it be possible to get all 20 members to agree on anything like ending the export ban or restricting food exports? Is there anything general about these topics or otherwise – or anything else we could accomplish? And if not, then what – what do we hope to achieve in terms of putting pressure on Russia? How can the G20 do that when countries are divided on many of these issues, many of those – our partners with Moscow on energy and food? Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY TOLOUI: This is Ramin. I’ll take this one. You are right that food and energy security will be very important in the discussions. One of the purposes of participating in such a forum is to firstly highlight the source of the problem, and an important source of the problem when it comes to food and energy security is the continuation of Russia’s war in Ukraine. In particular, I would draw attention to the fact that Russian measures have trapped about 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain and prevented it from reaching world markets.
The United Nations is now running an initiative to try to reopen the Black Sea to trade so that Ukrainian and Russian food and fertilizer can reach world markets. We support this and want the G20 to hold Russia accountable and insist on supporting this initiative. Whether this happens at the G20 level or at the level of individual G20 countries, this is an important point that Minister Blinken will emphasize when he engages with his colleagues.
But at the same time, while Russia was the source of this problem, the US was trying to mobilize solutions. And here, in May, Secretary Blinken hosted a ministerial meeting focused on food security, with the idea of launching a call to action and a plan to address food security. At the G7 Leaders Summit, President Biden committed an additional $2.76 billion in U.S. aid as part of the G7’s $4.5 billion commitment to meet urgent humanitarian needs. And so, at the G20, Secretary Blinken will try to mobilize additional G20 support to address critical food needs by mobilizing additional humanitarian and development aid to try to mitigate the adverse effects of Russia’s war.
MR PRICE: We will turn to John Hudson, Washington Post.
QUESTION: Thank you very much. Ambassador, you mentioned the guardrails in US-China relations. Ned mentioned it too. What does it mean in this context? What would the establishment of a protective fence in US-China relations actually look like in real terms? And will the administration also use this G20 meeting to push for an oil price cap on — Russian oil? Will that be the goal? What is the State Department’s opinion on the oil price cap? thank you
ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK: Thank you, John. This is Dan Kritenbrink. On the issue of guardrails, I would say that it is very important that we have open lines of communication with our Chinese counterparts, especially at a higher level; again, as we said, to do everything we can to make sure that we prevent any kind of misjudgment that might lead to — inadvertently lead to conflict and confrontation. I don’t think there’s any substitute for face-to-face diplomacy when it comes to these kinds of conversations. The secretary has been in regular contact with PRC State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, but this will be their first face-to-face meeting since October. And of course, as you’ve seen, we’ve also regularly engaged in other senior channels, including at the level of the president and at the level of the national security adviser.
So I think that first and foremost, to reiterate, guardrails mean having sufficient channels of communication and then solid exchanges in those channels to prevent misjudgments. Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY TOLOUI: And as you know, the G7 leaders have discussed capping prices as a way to achieve the goal of global energy conservation — keeping the world’s energy markets supplied while preventing the Kremlin from earning revenues that allow it to continue its war on Ukraine. And we expect that at the G20, this issue of energy security will be something that Secretary Blinken will discuss not only in formal meetings, but also with his bipartisan counterparts.
MR PRICE: We will take the final question from Iain Marlow.
QUESTION: Thanks for that. I appreciate this. Just in terms of the broader messaging at the G20 on Ukraine and some of these other issues, I’m just interested in what that communication will be in terms of the Blinken-Wang Yi meeting, what the messages from the Secretary of Ukraine will be in terms of how China fits into that picture. We know that both Russia and China are kind of fighting to get people to cooperate, but I’m just wondering what the minister can expect regarding Ukraine and Russia in terms of Wang Yi, what the messages might be. thank you
ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK: Thank you. Look, what I would say about that is — and you’ve mentioned this publicly many times — we’ve had a number of high-level communications with our Chinese counterparts about what we expect not just from the People’s Republic of China, but really from all responsible members of the international community regarding the Russian brutal invasion of Ukraine. So I think this will be another opportunity to have a frank conversation about this and to express our expectations about what we expect from China in the context of Ukraine and what we don’t.
MR PRICE: Excellent. Well, thank you all – thank you all again for stopping by. Just a reminder that this call was recorded with Assistant Secretary of State Kritenbrink and Assistant Secretary of State Toloui. And with that, the embargo is lifted. We will hear from you again soon.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK: Thank you.
