UN pick says US will counter China's agenda

(27 Jan 2021) President Joe Biden's pick to be America's ambassador to the United Nations says if she's confirmed by the Senate, she'll vigorously counter China's authoritarian agenda and engage in "people-to-people diplomacy." Veteran foreign service officer Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks in her opening remarks of China's diplomatic inroads during the Trump administration, which pursued an "America First" policy that weakened international alliances. She makes clear to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee there will be a change under Biden to re-engaging internationally and promoting American values. Sitting Chairman of the committee, Republican Sen. James Risch of Idaho in his opening statement told the nominee that she would be strongly question about the "elephant in the room," her past remarks on China's strategy in Africa, which were made at a Chinese Communist Party-funded Confucius Institute.   Risch said "I can tell you that there isn't a person sitting in this room that hasn't given a speech that they don't wish they had back." "I personally am not going to hold one speech against somebody," he said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...