US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told business and political leaders in Davos on Wednesday that he couldn't remember a time when there were less global challenges, from the war in Gaza and Ukraine to tensions over Taiwan.
Blinken said that any problem that US President Joe Biden's administration wants to tackle cannot be tackled in isolation, echoing comments by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday, who called for greater global cooperation.
Blinken described the Gaza conflict as “heartbreaking” and said a Palestinian state with a governmental structure that “gives the people what they want and works with Israel” is needed to resolve the situation.
“The suffering breaks my heart,” he said during a keynote session at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos: “The question is what to do.”
The US secretary of state said Washington had heard from every country in the Middle East that the US should be at the table to discuss how to end Israel's war with Hamas militants in Gaza.
And Washington, he said, is also needed elsewhere.
“A US partnership is valued more than ever,” Blinken told the WEF panel audience.
The war in Gaza began on October 7 when Hamas militants invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Israel says there are more than 130 hostages.
Israel responded to the Hamas attack with a blockade, bombing and ground invasion of Gaza that devastated the small coastal enclave and killed more than 24,000 people, Gaza health officials said.
There is no immediate prospect of a grease-fire Ukraine
Asked if there was an immediate possibility of a ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine, Blinken said he didn't think there was, although the US was always open to it.
When the money and resources needed to rebuild Ukraine after nearly two years of conflict arrived, the private sector visited the country and the process “took on a life of its own,” he said.
Following Chinese Premier Li's open comments on foreign investment on Tuesday, Blinken said the United States had dealt “very directly and clearly” with Beijing on business and that despite differences between the two, “there are still places to work together.” .”
Asked about tensions over Taiwan, where the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won Saturday's presidential election, Blinken stressed the importance of the Taiwan Strait.
He said all have similar interests, especially given Taiwan's role in semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Blinken listed the challenges America faces around the world and referenced the wartime words of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
“When it comes down to the hard stuff…if you
If you're going to hell, keep going,” Blinken said.
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