Latest news with #MichaelMcFaul
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
An isolated Iran looks for allies on the world stage
Iran's top diplomat arrives in Moscow after the U.S. attack on three nuclear sites. Former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul warns that its the U.S who is "isolating itself", which leaves an opening for China.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-ambassador to Russia: Putin, Xi will celebrate Trump's ‘preemptive war' in Iran
Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul warned on Saturday of how U.S. strikes on Iran could influence U.S. adversaries around the world. In an interview on MSNBC, McFaul said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping would be glad to see the U.S. engaging in 'preemptive' strikes. 'I think we've really got to understand our other interests in the world that might be affected by this attack today. This is a preemptive war. The world does not support preemptive wars. We learned that in 2003,' McFaul said, referring to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which was launched based on the theory that Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction and threatened America. 'Putin will be celebrating this because he did his own preemptive war in Ukraine and now it's like, well, this is just what great powers do. Maybe Xi Jinping is going to think the same. He's going to say, 'Well, if they can do it here, we can do it in Taiwan,'' McFaul added. Trump announced on Saturday evening that the U.S. had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites and said, 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!' McFaul, in the interview, said he wishes the president 'well' in his aim to bring about peace, saying that outcome is possible but not likely. 'I hope he can bring about an agreement as soon as possible. It's happened before — capitulation after an attack like this — so it could happen, but it's not what I'm predicting,' McFaul said. 'The idea that they will now sit down and negotiate with us some long-term deal in the immediate run, I think, is highly unlikely,' he added. McFaul said it's 'good news' that the U.S. strikes, according to Trump, 'totally obliterated' the Iranian nuclear facilities, saying, 'I applaud that.' 'That's good news for today, but we need to think about what are the first, second, third and fourth order consequences after this,' McFaul added. 'Most immediately, they are going to retaliate, and I hope we are prepared to prevent that and prevail against our forces in the region.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Newsweek
09-06-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
US States Seek To Ban Chinese Citizens From Buying Land, Property
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Some U.S. states are attempting to ban Chinese citizens from buying land and property, amid souring diplomatic relations between the countries. By 2024, more than two thirds of states had enacted or considered laws limiting or barring foreign land ownership including states that specifically mention China by name, according to POLITICO. According to the non-profit membership organization the Committee of 100, in total 27 states have considered this kind of legislation. However, the group has not shared a list of those states. Newsweek has rounded up a non-exhaustive list of states that have been involved in this kind of legislation, based on publicly available information. Some states do not name China explicitly, but name foreign nations that would likely include China. A number of US stakes have advanced legislation to ban some land sales by foreign nationals and so-called "foreign adversaries." A number of US stakes have advanced legislation to ban some land sales by foreign nationals and so-called "foreign adversaries." Flourish Why It Matters There has been a wave of concern over Chinese land purchases in the United States, some of which have taken place close to military bases. This comes amid soaring tensions between the U.S. and China including trade clashes between the two giants and national security concerns. However, as of USDA data accurate to 2023, Chinese investors own land in the U.S. equivalent to roughly twice the size of the footprint of New York City. What To Know A number of states have considered legislation on the issue. In May, the Texas legislature passed a bill to ban people tied to the governments of China, North Korea, Russia and Iran from purchasing land in the state. In January, Republican senators in Arkansas introduced the Not One More Inch or Acre Act which would prohibit any Chinese citizen, entity or foreign person acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from purchasing public or private real estate in the U.S. On Tuesday, Arizona's Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill to prevent the People's Republic of China from buying a 30 percent stake or more in land near military bases and other strategic assets. Meanwhile, Florida passed a bill to prohibit citizens from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria from owning agricultural land or property near military sites in 2023. Similar legislation has been passed in South Dakota, North Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia, Utah, Iowa, West Virginia and Montana. Other states are considering legislation or bills regarding foreign nations' ability to purchase land including Ohio, Michigan and Georgia. What People Are Saying Speaking to Newsweek, Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, said: "Not every Chinese citizen is an agent of the Communist Party of China. Many of China's most successful entrepreneurs, engineers, and academics—especially those living and working in the United States—loathe the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. government officials must develop more sophisticated policies for decreasing the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the United States that do not treat all Chinese citizens as enemies of America." Cole Hefner, a Texas Republican state representative, said of Texas' bill: "Senate Bill 17 will counter this threat and make Texas a leader in state security. We cannot, we will not, allow oppressive regimes who actively seek to do harm to cease control and dictate their terms over our economy, our supply chains, our daily lives, our critical infrastructure for our food supply." Advocacy group Asian Texans for Justice opposed the Texas bill, saying it revives "a shameful chapter in American history—when Asian immigrants were banned from owning land." What Happens Next Texas' bill will now go to the state's governor, who has indicated he will support it. The success of other bills as well as whether other states will advance legislation pertaining to the issue remains to be seen.
South China Morning Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Trump-Xi direct talks needed soon as clock ticks on trade truce: ex-US diplomat
A direct conversation between the leaders of the world's two most powerful nations must take place as soon as possible, a former senior US diplomat has suggested, as the clock counted down on the 90-day truce in the trade war between China and the United States Advertisement Nearly four months since Donald Trump began his second term as US president, it appeared that he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping still had not spoken to each other, a situation that Michael McFaul, America's ambassador to Russia during the administration of former president Barack Obama, described as 'horrible'. 'It's May. They need to be talking. And [US Secretary of State Marco] Rubio needs to come to your country. And we have to have government-to-government dialogue,' McFaul said on Sunday during an event at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. He said that past and recent examples, including the short interaction with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City last month, proved that one-to-one meetings were 'very important' to Trump. 'I think more engagement at the highest levels is the first step towards a better (US-China) bilateral relationship,' said McFaul, who is now the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Telegraph
11-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump's top negotiator accused of breaking protocol in talks with Putin
Donald Trump's top negotiator broke with long-standing protocol by using the Kremlin's translators for three high-level meetings with Vladimir Putin, officials have claimed. Steve Witkoff, a real estate tycoon and cryptocurrency trader, has been tasked with negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine and has met with Putin four times in three months. Mr Witkoff did not employ his own interpreters during meetings with the Russian president on Feb 11, March 13 and April 11, a US official and two European officials told NBC News. 'If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying,' one Western official said. Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia, called Mr Witkoff's decision 'a very bad idea' that put him at a 'real disadvantage'. 'Language is never the same' 'I speak Russian and have listened to Kremlin interpreters and US interpreters at the same meeting, and the language is never the same,' Mr McFaul told NBC News. A video of Mr Witkoff's visit to the Kremlin on April 25 showed Putin greeting him with open arms. He did not appear to be accompanied by advisers who usually support US officials at negotiations. When a woman joined Mr Witkoff on his side of the table, he pointed at her and said, 'Interpreter? From the embassy? OK.' Mr McFaul also said that using a US interpreter also ensures a more accurate written account of the meeting for the rest of the government, known as a memorandum of conversation or 'memcon'. 'At the end of every meeting that I attended, I debriefed the interpreter to make sure we heard everything correctly, to get the 'memcom' exactly right. You can't do that using a Russian official,' he said. This could create problems for other senior members of the Trump administration such as Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg, Mr McFaul said. 'How does Kellogg know what Witkoff agreed to with Putin? He only knows it through a 'memcom,'' he added. Mr Witkoff's conduct in high-profile negotiations has previously been called into question, with another source previously saying he was a 'nice guy, but a bumbling f---ing idiot'. His meetings with Putin have also been criticised by the Ukrainians after he appeared to repeat Kremlin talking points in an interview with Tucker Carlson. 'I think the largest issue in that conflict are these so-called four regions – Donbass, Crimea, you know the name Lugansk, and there are two others. They're Russian-speaking,' he told the former Fox News host. Mr Witkoff was initially brought in by Mr Trump as special envoy for the Middle East but his role has been expanded to cover the war in Ukraine. Anna Kelly, a White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement that Mr Witkoff 'abides by all security protocols in coordination with the State Department'.
