Biden mute as protests demand freedom around the world

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

What does the United States stand for? With Joe Biden in the White House, absolutely nothing.

Apparently, we dont stand for freedom. As brave citizens in China desperately protest that countrys heinous lockdowns and censorship, a spokesman for the Biden administration says that the White House is "going to watch this closely."

We dont stand against human rights abusers. As crippling energy prices threaten the presidents approval ratings, Bidens emissaries travel to Venezuela, allowing an easing of sanctions and resumed oil exports from a murderous regime that happens to have the worlds largest oil reserves.

Amnesty International has called out the Maduro government for "extrajudicial executions, excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions and torture and other ill-treatment against those perceived as critical of the government" but the Biden government needs oil.

PROTESTS RATTLE CHINA AS PEOPLE SAY ENOUGH TO COUNTRY'S DRACONIAN COVID LOCKDOWN POLICIES

We dont stand for peace in the Middle East. Too small-minded to accept the extraordinary success of the Abraham Accords achieved under President Trump, which created new alliances in the region and ring-fenced Iran, the Biden team continues its pursuit of a new nuclear deal with Tehran. The Biden White House resolutely ignores Irans past history of cheating on its nuclear commitments; astonishingly, it allows Russia to act as an intermediary.

We also seemingly dont stand with womens rights. Violent and widespread protests in Iran over the killing of a young woman arrested for not wearing a hijab have reportedly resulted in hundreds of deaths and the blinding of hundreds more by rubber bullets and metal pellets fired by security forces.

The White House, other than issuing the usual supportive pablum, has been largely AWOL. Biden inadvertently boasted on the campaign trail that "Were going to free Iran" but his team soon walked back the comment, saying that we merely "stood in solidarity" with the protesters.

AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI'S NIECE URGES 'CONSCIENTIOUS' GOVERNMENTS TO CUT TIES WITH IRAN'S REGIME

In his first meeting with EU countries, President Biden cockily announced that "America is back." He says our allies asked, "For how long?" Americans should ask, "To what end?"

Yes, the Biden administration has stood up to Russia after Vladimir Putins unprovoked and despicable invasion of Ukraine. But, only to a point. Heaven forbid we actually make Putin angry by giving Ukraine the weapons they need to resist a much larger adversary. Heaven forbid we actually declare an intention to help Ukraine win the war a goal never once expressed by our president -- even as he asks taxpayers to shell out tens of billions of dollars.

Biden wants to be popular. He strives to differentiate himself from his predecessor; there is no question that Trump sometimes offended our allies as well as our adversaries, but in some instances, he was spot on.

EUROPEAN OFFICIALS SAY US PROFITING FROM UKRAINE WAR, CALL INFLATION REDUCTION ACT 'VERY WORRYING'

Take the EU, which has relied on the U.S. for decades to provide for the common defense. In 2017, Trump blistered NATO nations for failing to spend the agreed-upon 2% of GDP on defense. That year, only the U.S., U.K., Greece, Poland and Estonia met that target.Germany, the richest country in Europe, forked out less than 1.5% of its GDP in defense spending.

Michael Fallon, a former UK Defense Minister, supported Trumps charge, telling CNBC "Half the alliance 16 of the 29 countries dont even spend 1.5 percent (of gross domestic product) let alone 2 percent that we all agreed on four years ago"

Today, NATO allies have resolved to support Ukraine, but as usual, it is the United States that is doing the heavy lifting. So far, the U.S. has committed $68 billion to aid Ukraine; President Biden has asked Congress for another $37.7 billion.

In contrast, EU countries have to date sent Kyiv 3 billion Euros, in addition to a separate 1.2 billion Euros loan. In addition, they have promised Ukraine 1.5 billion euros per month in aid through 2023; the IMF estimates that is a fraction of Ukraines needs.

To remind, Russias aggression threatens the EU; they are at the border. We are not. Also, the GDP of the EU is roughly $15 trillion, roughly 65% of the U.S. at $23 trillion. Proportionately, once again, the EU is not holding up their end.

LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: NO GREATER THREAT THAN RUSSIA, SEEKS TO PRESERVE GLOBAL RULES-BASED ORDER

President Biden recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to the White House readout, Biden "raised concerns about PRC practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly."

Today, tanks are rolling into Xuzhou in eastern China, likely preparing to squash unprecedented demonstrations in numerous cities that have alarmed the authoritarian regime. Protesters elsewhere have been arrested, some detained with violence, reminding the world of the Tiananmen Square massacre that took place 30 years ago.

Bidens response? Assurances from a spokesman that "Weve long said everyone has the right to peacefully protest, in the United States and around the world."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER

That muted support flies in the face of Bidens oft-expressed assertion that our competition with China, as the New York Times reports, is "the first example" of what he calls astruggle between "autocracy and democracy." The Times notes that Biden "has insisted that he will call out abuses by authoritarian governments around the world."

Biden is especially concerned not to offend Xi, because he needs his help to control the changing climate. We know this is a high priority from his meeting last month, where he avoided sensitive topics such as the origin of COVID, which China has banned the world from investigating.

U.S. President Joe Biden, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit meeting, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Nusa Dua, in Bali, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Indeed, many of Bidens most foolish international missteps stem from his addiction to a climate agenda that prevents ramping up domestic energy production and consequently sends the White House scurrying for oil from enemies like Venezuela, even (as columnist Mary OGrady notes in an excellent Wall Street Journal piece) at the expense of our friends.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

To stake out a coherent foreign policy, a president must have an ideological north star. Trump had "America First." Biden has a 40-year history of being, as former Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it,"wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."

It shows.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM LIZ PEEK

Liz Peek is a Fox News contributor andformer partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company. A former columnist for the Fiscal Times, she writes for The Hill and contributes frequently to Fox News, the New York Sun and other publications. For more visit LizPeek.com. Follow her on Twitter @LizPeek.

Read more from the original source:

Biden mute as protests demand freedom around the world