President Joe Biden’s nominee for ambassador to the UN is vowing to bring a tough approach on to the body after coming under scrutiny for a 2019 speech at a Chinese-funded Confucius Institute at Georgia’s Savannah State University.
Several senators raised the issue of the speech during private meetings before Linda Thomas-Greenfield's confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield, who served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs under the Obama administration, mainly addressed US-Chinese competition for influence in Africa in the 2019 speech.
She made the speech as a senior vice president at the Albright Stonebridge Group consultancy, which she joined after the Trump administration expelled her from the State Department in 2017 along with other senior foreign service officers.
“Truthfully, I wish I had not accepted this specific invitation, and I came away from the experience alarmed at the way the Confucius Institute was engaging with the black community in Georgia,” Ms Thomas-Greenfield told the Senate at her hearing.
“It reminded me of what I’d seen in Africa – the Chinese government going after those in need, with fewer resources.
"I gave the speech as a way of recommending to Africans how they can address their challenges with China.
“If I’m confirmed, I commit to working with this committee to counter China at the UN, to fight against all efforts by the Chinese government to add harmful language to UN resolutions, and to resist China’s efforts to overfill key UN positions with Chinese citizens.”
China runs Confucius Institutes on university campuses across the world with the stated goal of promoting Chinese language and culture.
Savannah State University followed the lead of others in closing its Confucius Institute last year amid allegations that the centres restrict academics and import Chinese state censorship.
FBI director Christopher Way told Congress in 2018 that his agency was monitoring the institutes, and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo designated the their headquarters in the US as a Chinese foreign mission last year.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield said she supported efforts by China hawks in Congress to crack down on Confucius Institutes in the US.
She said she delivered the speech as part of an invitation from Savannah State University, a historically black university, to take part in a broader series of events encouraging students of colour to join the foreign service.
The university gave Ms Thomas-Greenfield a $1,500 honorarium for her visit and address.
Her pledge to take a tough stance on China echoed many of those made by senior Biden Cabinet officials at their confirmation hearings, amid bipartisan pressure.
They included Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Intelligence Director Avril Haines.
“The tougher language will be calling the Chinese out whenever we see them crossing line, particularly as it relates to their aggressive actions both here in the United States and across the globe,” Ms Thomas-Greenfield told the Senate.
“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 muscle.”
“None of us want to encourage or support a conflict and that is not the intent here. The intent here is to encourage the Chinese to change their behaviour.”
She mostly breezed through her confirmation hearing without much other controversy.
It did not appear as if the speech would derail the possibility that the Senate would vote to confirm her as UN ambassador.
“There isn’t a person sitting in this room that hasn’t given a speech that they don’t wish they had back,” said James Risch, the top Republican on the Senate foreign relations committee.
“I personally am not going to hold one speech against somebody.”
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Super Bowl LIII schedule
What Super Bowl LIII
Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams
Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States
When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)
Stage result
1. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3:29.09
2. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto-Soudal
3. Rudy Barbier (FRA) Israel Start-Up Nation
4. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma
5. Luka Mezgec (SLO) Mitchelton-Scott
6. Alberto Dainese (ITA) Sunweb
7. Jakub Mareczko (ITA) CCC
8. Max Walscheid (GER) NTT
9. José Rojas (ESP) Movistar
10. Andrea Vendrame (ITA) Ag2r La Mondiale, all at same time
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
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Rating: 1/5
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
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Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
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ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Company%20Profile
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
RESULTS
6.30pm UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) US$100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Final Song, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m
Winner Almanaara, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Grand Argentier, Brett Doyle, Doug Watson.
8.15pm Meydan Challenge Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Major Partnership, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.