"I reiterated that the United States will not leave Australia alone on the field, or maybe I should say alone on the pitch, in the face of economic coercion by China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference on Thursday (US time) alongside visiting Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
Blinked warned that China’s such behavior toward US allies would hamper improvement in American-Sino relations.
Earlier this month, Blinken noted: “I want to be very clear about something. And this is important. Our purpose is not to contain China, to hold it back, to keep it down. It is to uphold this rules-based order that China is posing a challenge to,” referring to a likelihood of any geopolitical risks.
Market reaction
Markets are in a better mood amid a rebound in the global stocks and the Fed’s conciliatory remarks on rising inflation. The S&P 500 futures rise 0.25% while the US dollar index consolidates the recent surge around 90.80 ahead of the key US Retail Sales release.