United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said you can’t “have a hierarchy” when asked if climate change is a greater threat to humanity than nuclear war.
Amelia Adams of “60 Minutes Australia” asked Blinken, “Vladimir Putin is threatening nuclear war, and this month we’ve seen the hottest temperatures on this planet on record. What is the greater threat to humanity in your mind, war or climate change?”
“Well, you can’t, I think, have a hierarchy,” Blinken replied. “There are some things that are front and center – the wolf at the door – including potential conflict, but there’s no doubt that climate represents an existential challenge to all of us. It’s one of the reasons we’re so gratified at Australia’s leadership when it comes to combating climate change; that Australia is stepping up in the way that it sends a very powerful message. It’s both practical in what Australia is doing, but it also is the symbolism of an important country taking a clear stand and also taking action against climate.”
“So for us, this is the existential challenge of our times,” he said.
Blinken tried to play down the threat that communist China poses to the U.S., saying, “We have an obligation that we feel strongly to responsibly manage the relationship with China. For us as for Australia and many other countries, it’s one of the most consequential and complicated relationships that we have, and you can’t sum it up on a bumper sticker on a car.”
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“There are aspects of the relationship that are clearly competitive, and that’s maybe the main focus,” he continued. “There are areas where we have to contest our differences. But there are also places where we should be able to cooperate if it’s in our mutual interest and actually for the greater good.”
“One of the successes of the relationship between the United States and China going back five decades is precisely that: our – the ability we’ve had to manage the challenges concerning Taiwan,” he asserted.