First Diplomatic Speech, Joe Biden Mentions Alexei Navalny's Problems To China's Economic Violations

JAKARTA - United States (US) President Joe Biden on Thursday promised a new era after the foreign policy of his predecessor, Donald Trump. In his first diplomatic address as US President, Joe Biden declared, 'America is Back'.

In his speech, President Joe Biden signaled an aggressive approach to China and Russia, urged Myanmar's military leaders to stop their coup, and declared an end to US support for the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen.

"American leadership must face new moments in advancing authoritarianism, including China's growing ambition to rival the United States and Russia's determination to undermine and disrupt our democracy. We must face new moments, accelerate global challenges from the climate crisis pandemic to nuclear proliferation," said President Joe Biden, reported by Reuters.

In his speech, President Joe Biden said he spoke in a different way than his predecessors, when contacting Russian President Vladimir Putin. He revealed that the United States has agreed with Russia to extend the New START nuclear stability agreement with Russia.

"I explained to President Putin, in a very different way from my predecessors, that the days of the United States rolling around in the face of aggressive Russian actions, disrupting our elections, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens, are over," he said.

And, President Joe Biden also admitted that he was concerned about the case of the detention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, which he considered as part of an effort to suppress freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

With regard to China, President Joe Biden called Beijing 'our most serious competitor'. China, expanding its military and seeking to grow its influence around the world, is perhaps Biden's biggest international challenge as he begins his presidency.

“We will confront China's economic abuses, resist its aggressive and coercive actions to push back China's attacks on human rights, intellectual property and global governance. But we are ready to work with Beijing if America has an interest in doing so," he explained.

“We are a country that is doing great things. American diplomacy made it happen and our government is ready to take over and lead it once again," he concluded.