in this 20 June 2023 interview on BBC News, Nicolas Firzli, EU ASEAN Ctr., deciphers the Biden White House geo-economic plan: 1) refocus on ASEAN, Australia, India and Japan (to the detriment of Europe and the MENA area), and 2) encircle China, “sapping its tech and engineering mojo”. Biden’s calibrated insults — calling chairman Xi Jinping a “dictator” — are meant to signal the acceleration of Cold War 2 across economic sectors and geographies, incl. microchip foundries & infrastructure finance