US President Joe Biden stressed the importance of keeping world trade flowing unimpeded, warning of the impact of competition with Russia and China on open and safe sea lanes in the Arctic and the South China Sea.
During his speech to the 2021 US Coast Guard Academy graduates on Wednesday, he considered that caution in dealing with Moscow and Beijing is part of his vision of the role of the military branch in national security.
He stressed his commitment to strategic competition with Russia and China, criticized these two countries for what he described as "acts of sabotage," and said he had discussed them with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He added in his first speech as president before the academy, "When countries try to manipulate the system or tip the rules in their favor, this leads to an imbalance in everything. This is the reason for our strong insistence that these areas of the world that represent the arteries of trade and shipping remain peaceful, whether that is that. In the Arctic and the South China Sea increasingly. "
"It is a vital interest of America's foreign policy: a safe and unimpeded flow of global trade. This will not happen without an active role in setting standards of behavior to shape it around democratic values."
The United States has criticized China for expanding its military presence in the South China Sea, as well as Russia for establishing forward sites along the Arctic coast.
Speaking from the Academy’s campus in New London, Connecticut, Biden praised the alumni’s accomplishments amid an unprecedented pandemic before articulating his belief that the United States is at a “significant turning point in world history,” and underlining the importance of the Coast Guard's role in pandemic, storms, massive fires and floods.
The last time Biden gave an opening speech to the academy was in 2013 when he was vice president. In his first speech at the graduation ceremony since taking office, the president said he believes the demands and challenges that the batch of 2021 will face "will look very different from those who walked these halls before you."
Biden said during his remarks that the Coast Guard Academy graduates held a hypothetical graduation ceremony last year. This year, the alumni are seated on a soccer field approximately 3 feet apart as families spaced across the half-full stands.
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