05/24/22 05/24/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> are you willing to get involved militarily to defend taiwan if it comes to that? pres. biden: yes. >> you are? pres. biden: that is the commitment we made. amy: in his first trip to asia as president, joe biden has promised to defend taiwan militarily if it is invaded by china.

the white house took back his words, but was it a gasp by the president or a new u.s. policy? we will talk about biden's trip to taiwan and today's meeting of the quad, india, strike, japan, and u.s.. china has criticized the quad as in the pacific version of nato. plus, look at "the ransom" a new series in "the new york times" detailing how france devastated haiti's economy by forcing haiti to pay massive reparations for the loss of slave labor after it rebelled, found in the first black republic in 1804. >> the article published this weekend i think will shed light on the very question of what makes the case of haiti wh we see today in terms of this country that people often refer to as the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the united nations says the number of people displaced by war, conflict and human rights abuses has topped 100 million for the first time. u.n. high commissioner for refugees filippo grandi nounced e grim miltone as met witrohingya rugees who have fled violence a governmentersecutionn burma. >> as much as we are all focusing on ukraine as a catastrophic emergcy, we must not forget there are other crital situations in the world that need attention and resources. amy: in burma, at least 17 rohingya, including three ildren, drowd after their boat capsized off the coast over the weekend. dozens more are missing and feared dead. it's believed the rohingya were attempting to cross the bay of bengal fleeing persecution by

burma's military rulers. the u.n. reports as many as 10,000 rohingya were killed by burmese forces during the 2017 genocide, though some estimates put the death toll at double that number. another 730,000 rohingya were forced to flee burma. in mexico, three honduran asylum seekers died monday after their boat capsized off the gulf coast of veracruz. at least four others are missing and another four were rescued including a 12-year-old child. this is one of the survivors. >> is something sad but just imagine people won't stop trying to reach the u.s. don't think things are easy in our country. amy: this comes after a 36-year-old father from salvador and his seven-year-old son drowned while attempting to cross into mexico from guatemala. in related news, asylum seekers trapped in the mexican border of city of tijuana led a protest monday denouncing the biden

administration's use of title 42, the trump era pandemic quarter that has been used to block over 2 million people arriving at the u.s.-mexico border seeking refugee status. a federal judge on friday ordered the biden administration to continue enforcing the policy. protesters insist they have a right under international law to claim asylum. >> for us, title 42 is the dream of many because asylum is a right and title 42 takes that right away from us. >> we have been here for almost a year. we have been in the shelter for five months. we have been in a resident apartment for five more months. it is very difficult. we hope things and in the u.s. will be different. here in tijuana, there a lot of danger. amy: in yemen, three people were killed monday after a drone crashed into a residential

neighborhood in the capital sanaa. witnesses said the saudi-led coalition drone was shot down by houthi rebels as it circled the skies over the capital. >> unfortunately, it fell onto the citizens. this is a commercial market and these are street vendors. the spy drone fell on them and this is a violation of the truce in yemen. amy: the united nations is calling on yemen's houthi rebels and the saudi-led coalition to extend the ceasefire, which is due to expire on june 1. the world food program says five years of continuous war in yemen has sparked the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with about two-thirds of all yemenis, or some 20 million people, suffering from hunger and malnutrition. in ukraine, at least one person was injured monday as russian forces shelled the center of kharkiv. residents showed reporters remnants of what appeared to be russian cluster bombs used in the assault. cluster munitions are banned

under a global treaty that has not been ratified by russia, ukraine, or the united states. on monday, the united nations reported more than 2 million refugees have returned to ukraine after russian forces failed to capture a major city. on monday, ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy said he was willing to negotiate an end to the war but only through direct talks with vladimir putin. >> i cannot accept any kind of meeting with anyone coming from the russian federation but the president of the russian federation and only in the case when there is one issue on the table, stopping the war. there are no oer grounds for any other kinds of meetings. amy: a veteran russian diplomat has resigned in protest of president putin's decision to invade ukraine. boris bondarev stepped down monday from russia's mission to the united nations in geneva,

writing in a scathing email to his colleagues that he's never been so ashamed of his country. his resignation letter read in part -- "those who conceived this war want only one thing, to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire russian navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. to achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes," the russian official boris bondarev wrote. pfizer reported monday three smaller-sized doses of its covid 19 vaccine were safe and effective at preventing symptomatic illness in children under the age of five. pfizer's announcement came as it prepared to submit a request for emergency use of its pediatric vaccine for children as young as six months old. approval could come after the fda convenes a panel of independent vaccine experts on

june 15 when the agency will also consider moderna's application for emergency use of its vaccine in young children. the u.s. centers for disease control is warning gay and bisexual men they face an elevated risk of contracting monkeypox after public health officials identified four suspected cases of the viral disease entity u.s. and one definite one. monkeypox is endemic to central and west africa, and is most often spread from animals to humans. it can cause rashes and painful lesions on the body that if left untreated can sometimes be fatal. the world health organization has recently identified 200 confirmed and suspected cases across a dozen countries. the who epidemiologist maria van kerkhove said monday the monkeypox outbreak appears to be linked to sexual activity among men. >> the transmission is really

happening from close, physical contact, skin to skin contact. it is quite different than covid in that sense. the thing i want to say here is that this is a containable situation. particularly in the countries where we are seeing these outbreaks that are happening across europe, in north america as well. amy: the supreme court ruled monday two condemned prisoners in the state of arizona cannot present new evidence in federal court that could prove they did not receive adequate legal representation, leading to their convictions and death sentences. the case involves david martinez ramirez and barry lee jones, who say their lawyers failed to present evidence that could have exonerated them. writing for the court's 6-to-3 conservative majority, justice clarence thomas ruled that "serial re-litigation of final convictions undermines the finality that 'is essential to both the retributive and deterrent functions of criminal law'."

critics say the ruling will prevent people wrong convicted of crimes from proving they are innocent. in a scathing dissent, justice sonia sotomayor called the decision "perverse" and "illogical." she wrote -- "two men whose trial attorneys did not provide even the bare minimum level of representation required by the constitution may be executed because forces outside of their control prevented them from vindicating their constitutional right to counsel." amnesty international said monday the number of executions globally rose by at least 20% in 2021, while the number of death sentences grew by 40%. over 500 people were executed and more than sentenced to death 2000 last year. executions in saudi arabia in 2021 more than doubled.

in georgia, former vice president mike pence called monday for republicans to rally behind incumbent governor brian kemp, who hopes to be re-nominated as his party's candidate in today's primary election. >> and when you say yes to governor brian kemp tomorrow, we'll send a deafening message all across america that the republican party is the party of the future. amy: governor kemp faces a primary election challenge from david perdue, the former republican senator backed by donald trump. on monday, a trump spokesperson criticized pence over his endorsement of kemp, telling "the new york times" pence was "desperate to chase his lost relevance." on monday, david perdue drew accusations of racism after he said democratic gubernatorial candidate stacey abrams should "go back to where she came

from." abrams, who is african-american, moved to georgia with her family in 1989. georgia is one of five states holding primary elections today. in a closely-watched race, voters in texas' 28th congressional district will decide between henry cuellar, a conservative incumbent who's backed by democratic leaders, and jessica cisneros, a progressive supported by senator bernie sanders and congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez. in january, the fbi raided the home and office of congress member cuellar as part of a corruption investigation. in north carolina, students at bennett college with past-due tuition bills in collection will see $1.7 million of their debts erased. the union of borrowers known as the debt collective purchased and paid off the student loans of nearly 500 black women at bennett -- a historically black, all-women liberal arts college

in greensboro. this comes as activists pressure president biden to uphold his campaign pledge to cancel student debt, now a $1.7 trillion burden held by some 44 million people across the u.s. "the washington post" reports the justice department will require federal agents to intervene if they see other law enforcement officers using excessive force. this is the first update to the doj's use-of-force policy in nearly two decades. the policy is scheduled to take place in july and comes after massive racial justice protests erected in the united states and around the world in response to the police murder of george floyd in minneapolis two years ago. and a senior consultant at shell has resigned condemning the fossil fuel giant for expanding its oil and gas production

despite mounting scientific warnings this would lead to a climate catastrophe. caroline dennett worked for the company for 11 years and was based in the united kingdom. she shared news of her resignation in a video posted on linkedin. >> today am quitting because of shall'soubletalk on climate. shell stated their missiois t do no harm. incense honorable they are not -- they know continued oil d gas extraction causes extreme harm to our climate, our environment, and to people. and whateverhey say, shall is simplyot winding down fossil fuels, they are expande with new exploration and pansion project against the clear one from scientists of huge risks to the climate change. i cannot be a part of this anymore. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

when we come back, we look at "the ransom," a new series in "the new york times" to how france devastated haiti's economy by forcing haiti to pay massive reparations for the loss of slave labor after enslaved haitians rebuild, founding the first black republic in 1804. back in a minute. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: the haitian musician. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now! co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the

country and around the world. amy: "the ransom" that is the name of a major series of articles published by "the new york times" detailing how haiti became one of the poorest countries in the world while bankers in france and the united states made a fortune. the story dates back to the early 19th century. in 1804, the enslaved people of haiti rose up, leading a rebellion against french colonial rule and founded the world's first black republic. under military threat from france in 1825, haiti agreed to pay reparations to france for lost so-called "property," including enslaved people that french owners lost in the rebellion. france threatened to invade haiti and reimpose slavery if

haiti did not agree to a staggering amount in reparations, 150 million francs, 30 times haiti's annual revenue. haiti began taking out loans from french banks, leading to an economic csis that continues to this day. "the new york times" estimates haiti paid the equivalent of what is now $560 million to france over the next seven decades. the true economic cost to haiti is estimated to be an astounding $115 billion. and that only tells part of the story. in 1880, a french bank established haiti's first national bank, essentially putting france in control of haiti's treasury. that bank, credit industriel et commercial, used some of its massive profits to help finance the eiffel tower.

the bank's current owner has just launched an investigation into its dealings with haiti and its role in what it called the ecosystem of colonialism. "the times" series also looks at the u.s. military occupation of haiti that lasted from 1915 to 1934. a key backer of the u.s. occupation was the national city bank of new york, the predecessor of citibank. former u.s. diplomat patrick gaspard, who now heads the center for american progress, has called on citigroup to pay reparations to haiti. gaspard wrote on twitter -- "a silent scream has been in throats for decades about the role u.s. played in depleting haiti. no one would listen. finally some truths." over the years, haitian demands for reparations have been

repeatedly shut down -- sometimes with force. ance's former ambassador to haiti thierry burkhard admitted to "the new york times" that france and the united states effectively orchestrated the 2004 coup that ousted haiti's first democratically elected president jean-bertrand aristide. burkhard said one benefit of the coup was that it ended aristide's campaign demanding france pay financial reparations to haiti. to talk more about haiti and the devastating impact of colonialism in this massive series in up and put the new york times," we are joined by two guests. westenley alcenat is a haitian-american professor at fordham university where he teaches courses on the atlantic slave trade, the american abolitionist movement, and afro-caribbean history. gerald horne, professor of history and african american studies at the university of houston, author of many books,

including "confronting black jacobins: the u.s., the haitian revolution, and the origins of the dominican republic." we welcome you both to democracy now! this series has come out in "the new york times" to both criticism and praise. it has come out in both creole and in english. that is a first for "the new york times." can you explain the significance of what many are calling revelations -- at least, to the general public -- but certainly in people in haiti have been alleging for centuries, not only alleging, but having proof of this? >> thank you for having me today. i'm glad to be here in conversation with you. let me start by saying great acknowledgment to the many reporters and producers who put

this very special issue togther and to have given it a exposure will mean a lot -- not really for haitians per say because the facts that are being revealed throughout the report are very well known, even the most illiterate haitians and even to the youngest haitians growing up. in fact, given the level of underdevelopment that is prevalent in haiti today, one knows, at least the haitian people know, this could have only been a legacy of an external force rather than of their own making. so i think the significance of the piece will be that it exposes the rest of the world to a knowledge that actually has existed for over 100 years and shares multiple partners, both in the private sector with regard to the financial industry, as well as united states government, germany,

great britain, and most certainly and most influential, france come having played a role in imposing the debt that in many ways will explain haiti's poverty today. i welcome the piece. i think it is great in terms of the research it brought together both from academic literature that had already existed, as well as new revelations that are coming out. but in terms of calling revelations, that would be a misnomer. i myself have written extensively on the subject. many other fellow academics, historians have written about it. there have been movements over the decades against united states, france, and the other parties responsible to get them to some accountability. and i believe a large reason why this never got the fair sort of ear of listing a should have

gotten is because it is coming from haitians, the many people view assorted the africans of the western hemisphere. which is an identity that haitians privately where -- where proudly for reasons that reasonly make sense in terms of the freedom they fought and established for all black people. juan: i would like to bring in professor gerald horne to the conversation, another histori who has cover the issue of colonialism, imperialism, and slavery throughout the americas for decades. i, too, had the same feeling that a lot of this is only new to people who have not paid attention to the history of the western hemisphere over the last several hundred years. i'm wondering your reaction to the piece? "the times" is delving into history much more than news. i think the most interesting aspect of it was the particular

individuals in france and the institutions that directly benefited from the ransom that haiti was forced to pay, t largely, this is history that is known by people who know any part of the history of latin america and of the western hemisphere. so i am wondering your reaction to the these as an historian who has studied this carefully? >> first of all, i would encourage "the new york times" to follow through with their points that they have uncovered, new documents, by putting these documents online so that other historians can take advantage of their excavations and/or secondly placing them atthe new york times" archives, which i believe has been cited at the new york public library. i believe that storalso is of significance and of moments for us in the united states because there has been this mytthat

has been created that united states and the haitian revolution were twins, even though we know, as i begin my book on that haitian revolution, george washington was quite nervous about the eruption in haiti inugust 1791, and this wa uerstandable haitian culminating in 1804 let to the general crisis of the entire slave system in the americas that could only be resolved with this collapse. therefore, the united states was probably second to france in being an antagonist of the haitian people. from their point of view, this was a reaction to the fact that many of the slave revolts in united states had haitian fingerprints all over them. i'm speaking of virginia in the 1800, louisiana in 1811, about a decade later in south carolina.

selling in and out of haiti before the direction in charleston, south carolina. then culminating this hostility to haiti, there is substantial evidence that suggests when the island that we refer to as his vanilla would split in 1844 -- hispanola in 1844, this was an early success for u.s. covert operations. so this story in "the new york times" is of significance where we in the united states hopefully will cause us to re-examine the history of this country and move away from the propaganda point that somehow the united states was an abolitionist republic when actually, it was the foremost slave holders republic. juan: i am wondering if it would not have been worthwhile for "the new york times" to do another piece on its own coverage of haiti over the past

100 years or so. thinking back raised as to the first coup against president aristide when there were numerous articles in "the new york times" about how aristide was considered to be duly unstable and erratic in his behavior, all of it fed to buy intelligence sources. and even "the times" coverage perhaps of u.s. occupation, the long occupation in the early 20th century, "the times" seems to be willing to go after france and the u.s., but really does not look at its own role in creating the narrative of haiti as a dysfunctional country. i'm wondering what you think about that, gerald. >> you are correct. there is much work to be done in the spirit by "the new york times." you mention the occupation 1915-1934, the u.s. did not -- excuse me, "the new york times"

did not emphasize in their coverage the met opposition to the u.s. occupation, particularly by black americans, particularly by a founder of the naacp speaking of w.e.b dubose whose ancestral roots were on the island and he let a vigorous campaign against this murderous and bloodthirsty occupation that in some ways involved the reassertion of unpaid labor, so-called -- in haiti, and the hopefully that would improve today's coverage. amy: i want to go back to 2004 that juan just referred to, france part of his former ambassador to haiti has admitted france in the united states effectively orchestrated the 2004 coup that overthrew haitian president jean-bertrand aristide

. the former french ambassador thierry burkard told "new york times" one benefit of the coup was that it ended aristide's campaign demanding france pay reparations to haiti. i want to turn to an interview we did with kim ives right after president aristide was put on a plane and send to the central african republic. this is what kim ives described. >> this is a u.s.-french-led operation. did not aristide say he holds the french ambassador to haiti as well responsible for his kidnapping and was to bring charges? >> yes, the french were involved in all this pressure. where in some ways leading the charge. this was a purely u.s.-french operation. juan: france probably, more than

the u.s., had more to lose from aristide continuing under the presidency since he was beginning to lay claim to reparations from france for the period of colonialism and slavery? >> this is precisely it. you had the table, and we saw a lot of rivalries were put aside to get aristide between the ruling groups and haiti, the big landowners who generally are constantly squabbling throughout haitian history for power. they put aside their differences to get together, which we see. we saw france and the u.s. have also been putting aside their

differences. you saw this unity, between rivals against aristide as he represented the people and because he was representative of popular ability. am just to be clear, this is mid-march, 2004, that kim ives waspeaking. right after that, democracy now! , i flew to the central african republic on a small ane covering a group of african-american activists and politicians, including randall robinson of trans africa, as well as congress member maxine waters, who went to the central african republic to retrieve the aristides and then brought them back to the western hemisphere as the u.s. governent was saying, how dare you bring them to this hemisphere, to which randall robinson responded, whose hemisphere? they eventually brought them to haiti and the aristides went

into exile for years before they eventually went back to haiti where they are today. i would like to get response starting with professor horne and the professor westenley alcenat about the significance of these coups, whether we're talking about aristide in the early 1990's or again in 2004, the coups against them and what that meant for this country. no president would demand reparations. >> welcome the reparations question, obviously, is key. ep in mind, what makes the u.s. unique is the slave owners were expropriated. their property and bodies of the slave africans was taken without compensation. that helped to give rise to terrorism of the ku klux klan. in haiti, the haitians were obligated to pay back the

enslavers and likewise, if you look at the british possession so-called to make up barbados etc., you had london compensate the enslavers i some measure, that total was not paid off till just a few years ago. this quotient of reparations is quite key -- this question of reparations is quite key as is haiti helping to ignite this entire process of abolition leading to capital loss, not least in the united states of america, the enslaving class and their dissidents hava very long memory have not forgotten haiti's role and that is why they continue to punish haiti for havinghe temerity to rise up against svery. and even today, continue to publish -- punish haiti because they see haiti as a haven for low-wage labor. largely manufactured by cheap labor in haiti. so there is still much to sort

out. amy: professor westenley alcenat , if you could respond to the u.s. diplomat patrick gaspard now runs center for american progress, to manning citibank launch an investigation and the whole issue of reparations, whether you could see it actually being real given the devastation of haiti? >> thank you, amy. i think i want to quickly go back to what was asked in regards to "the new york times." it was in 2010, just days after an earthquake had devastated the country and killed upwards of 200,000 people that "the new york times" provided a platform for one of its columnists, david brooks, to say some of the most racist things i have ever read in "the new york times" about haiti. so if we are also going to give

"the new york times" credit for what is a phenomenal job on this issue, they should also start by apologizing for what mr. brooks had said then, which let me quote "haiti, like most of the world's poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress resistant cultural influences. there is the influence of the voodoo religion which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile. there are high levels of social mistrust, responsibility is often not internalized. child-rearing practices often involve neglect and it early years and harsh retribution when kids hit nine or 10. we're supposed to politely respect each other's cultures, for some cultures are more progress-resistant than others and horrible tragedy was just exacerbated by one of them." i call on "the new york times" to both acknowledge the statements of racist demography

on his pages from mr. david brooks as anyone can judge for themselves as you look back at the bed -- op-ed and pseudo-intellectual jiving of haitians. that is one. with regard to mr. gaspard, i believe he actually served in the obama administration. and most people should know that president obama being himself the first black african-american president of the united states actually never made an official visit to the first black republic in the world. the very nation without which mr. obama would not have assumed the role of leading a society like the united states as he had. so i would like to know from mr. gaspard why is that the administration never actually took the very official position

that he is taking right now with regards to haitian poverty and the explicit role the united states, france, canada, and germany have played in all of that. lastly, i just want to respond to your question with regards to the death and destructive legacy that heads had for haiti. the tragedy of all of this is that even once this debt is paid , if it were ever to be paid, which like professor horne i believe there are parties that are invested in never actually making that a possibility, even if that debt were to be paid, we are already talking about decades of gaps and developing that were missed in the process because of where the money was going. something like upwards of 80% of all haitian expenditures up

until the early part of the 20th century going to financing the debt. in the fact that america first from wall street in cahoots with the federal government in terms of the state department, the navy, and you have names like general butler who have to go to that his role as a marine in haiti and how secure the interest of the financial corporate groups as well as working with the state department to make sure that haiti becomes a haven of capitalism as he said. and also, we can even see fdr, himself had been secretary of the navy upon the time that haiti was invaded and it becoming a protectorate of the

united states. he, too, had professed to actually amending the haitian constitution to take out a very revolutionary constitutional clause that had banned while males from owning land in haiti, on the first classes targeted was tha therefore, opened the country to internal meddling by the international powers. lastly, i just want to know the fact with regard to what you had said about the eiffel tower, now a part of [indiscernible] one of the largest banks in the world i think among the 10th are just thank in the world, having funded the building of the apple

tower, which is now this massive monument to the french industrial progress, that was happening at a moment in which the united states, france, germany, and parts of western europe were developing rapidly from that capital that they were extracting from any of their former colleagues -- current colonies. imagine what would the history of development in haiti p today if at the same time the world is undergoing and just real transformations come the likes of which we see today in the form of the eiffel tower, what if that money that was taken from haiti financing fridge infrastructure was financing haitian infrastructure instead? the fact of the matter is, there is no progress resistant gene that somehow haitians are born with, perhaps someone like david brooks was born with that

progress-resistant gene as he is unable to fathom that haitians can take care of themselves. but the truth goes to show where the receipts are in terms of why we know haiti is in the position it is today. juan: i would like to ask gerald horne, the bank aspect of this reporting -- to me, i think it is the most newsworthy in that the times was actually able to get a hold of french archives of financial arrangements that were made between banking entrance -- interests in france and haiti as well as its uncovering -- more deeply uncovering the role of the first national city bank in the early 20th century in haiti. so this is some of the best stuff in this report, but it is

almost like, hey, "the new york times" is covering imperialism. visit the role of wall street and european banks in controlling the economies, not just of haiti but of honduras, nicaragua, of cuba, of many of these countries in latin america part of the operational mold of american imperialism? >> most definitely. and i think the series, laudable as it has been, could also have made a contribution if it had pointed out the close connections between france and the united states. that is to say, in the 20th century, they begin to talk about citibank and citicorp and how it was involved in the depredations flitted upon haiti, but i think if you go back to the haitian revolutionary

period, would find seller connections. after all, we know what became the united states was involved in a revolt against london that would not haveucceeded without the assistance of france. the no there was substantial france -- french migration states and frenchmen were involved in some of the depredations in louisiana and slaveowning, for example. we know when texas was seated for mexico in 1836, texas was major diplomatic ally international front happen to be france and we also know when the united states civil war erupted, it was france that opportunistically chose that moment to try to seize and occupy mexico and then extend a lease on life of slavery in texas and throughout the south by welcoming slaveowners from texas and from dixie into french occupied mexico. it took a mass revolt by the

mexican people to overturn that particular scheme. so there is much more digging and excavations that needs to be done. i would like to read rate my call for "the new york times" to open the kimono and to disgorge these documents they say they have uncovered in france so that other scholars and other researchers can examine. amy: we have not even talked about the louisiana purchase but we can't in the ow. i want to end and in the crisis that haitians confront today when they try to come into the united states. i think it was last september the u.s. special envoy to haiti resigned in protest over the biden administration's policies in a letter longtime diplomat, u.s. envoy to haiti daniel foote wrote, "i will not be associated with united states in human counterproductive decision to deport thousands of haitian refugees."

he also criticized the biden administration for meddling in haiti's affairs following the assassination of the president in july. foote's resignation came days after border patrol agents on horseback were found chasing, grabbing, and whipping haitian asylum seekers who had gathered in a makeshift camp in del rio, texas. we only have a minute, professor westenley alcenat, but the issue of haitian refugees being deported by the thousands back to a devastated haiti? >> well, what you have just demonstrated is that haiti stands as a single metaphor for understanding the racial legacy of imperial powers like the united states and france. in fact, as the war in ukraine is happening, they share magnitude of the difference in the treatment of certain refugees because of their european background relative to

save haitians as you just showed in terms of what is happening at the border. that is a very revealing example haiti of what haiti not only means to the united states, but what it means to the world at large a terms of populations from colonized geographies as well as black, brown, and indigenous people in this country who knows something about the treatment of racism at the hands of the u.s. government. so in many ways, haiti should be looked at as a similar metaphor for explaining so many of these various mistreatment's and levels of preference for different groups. i think the more we learned about haiti, the more we realize how our fate -- this is not an overstatement -- our fate is actually directly connected to

it if we are going to better understand what world we're living in with regards to how the powers that be intent engineer the world towards and careless of. amy: going back to the u.s. not recognizing haiti's independence for decades, fearing that a slave uprising would inspire enslaved people in the united states to rise up. westenley alcenat, thank you for being with us, professor where he teaches on the atlantic slave trade the american abolitionist , movement, and afro-caribbean history. thank you, gerald horne, professor of history and african american studies at the university of houston, and author of many books, including "confronting black jacobins: the u.s., the haitian revolution, and the origins of the dominican republic." next up, and his first trip to asia as president, joe biden has promised to defend taiwan militarily if it is invaded by china. is this the u.s. policy?

stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. president biden is in tokyo in

his first trip to asia while in office to meet with members of the quad -- the prime ministers of japan, india, and australia -- as part of efforts to counter china's power in the region. china has called the quad a "indo-pacific nato" and accused it of "trumpeting the cold war mentality" and "stoking geopolitical rivalry." this come as india's prime minister narendra modi has resisted u.s. pressure to condemn russia's invasion of ukraine. tension has also hung over the quad summit since monday when biden contradicted longstanding u.s. policy on taiwan, vowing to defend taiwan if it was attacked by china. he made the comment when questioned at a news conference. >> you did not want to get involved in ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. are you willing to get involved militarily to defend taiwan if it comes to that? pres. biden:. yes. close you are? pres. biden: it is a commitment we made. it is commitment we made.

look, here's the situation. we agreed with the one china policy. we signed on to it. all the attended agreements made from there. the idea that can be taken by force, is takeny force is just not appropriate. it will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in ukraine. amy: white house officials tried to walk back biden's comments. but defense secretary lloyd austin said biden's comment "highlighted our commitment under the taiwan relations act to help provide taiwan the means to defend itself." today, biden was asked again about taiwan. this time, he insistedn there has been no change to u.s. policy. >> mr. president, -- pres. biden: no. >> can you explain? pres. biden: no. >> [inaudible]

pres. biden: our policy has not changed at all. amy: for more, we are joined by michael swaine, director of the quincy institute's east asia program, longtime u.s.-china relations analyst. his books and briefings include "remaining aligned on the challenges facing taiwan." welcome to democracy now! why don't you start off i responding to the significance of what biden has said -- by the way, not just yesterday. he has repeated this several times. and then china's accusation that the quad, this group of four countries that are meeting -- australia, india, japan, and the united states -- are an indo pacific nato. >> thank you for having me. president biden has spoken now i think it is the fourth time he has said something like he said yesterday, that the united states is committed to come to the security of taiwan, being

that if taiwan were attacked by china. if he meant that exact meaning, it is literally not in line with u.s. policy. u.s. policy states that the united states with regd to grave security -- grave concern, pardon me, any attack on taiwan and with the president would consult with the congress on what exactly to do about it. that is in u.s. law. there is no commitment to deployed forces as it taiwan work security ally of united states -- which it is not. but there is a commitment to provide defensive articles to taiwan, i.e. military sales, as the united states judges the security situation becoming more threatening for taiwan. the u.s. is providing those

military sales now for many, many years. but the idea that the united states is obligated to come to the defense of taiwan if attacked is simply not u.s. policy. u.s. policy is called strategic ambiguity. it does not want to be clear on this issue because, eight, it does not want to provide what you might call a blank check to taiwan possibly endless types of salami slicing or provocation that the u.s. within you to come to the defense of taiwan to sort of bow them out of a problem. and also, such language reinforces beijing's impression that the u.s. is revising its policy in viewing taiwan as a defector security partner and independent nation. and this would absolutely undermine the one china policy that the united states has held now for many decades. under that policy, it traded

incredible u.s. one china stands that did not challenge the chinese position that taiwan is part of china and traded that for chinese assurance to pursue peaceful unification as a top priority while not completely giving up the possibility of using force, but not putting that as a top priority. now, both sides have this understanding is the basis of normalization. it is being steadily weakened by both sides and president biden's , we can even further. -- comment weakens it even further. juan: when you talk about this policy, can you talk a little bit about the origins of it in terms of their was a period of time after the founding of the people's republic of china in 1949 when the u.s. tried to ostracize and not recognize the

existencof the peopls republic and saw the nationalists in taiwan as blue legitimate rulers of all of china -- as the legitimate rulers and all of china. can you talk about the change that happened in the nixon years and the possible implications of president biden attempting to change that policy? >> yes. the change occurs after -- during the nixon period, early 1970's, with the so-called opening to china when nixon flew to beijing and met with leaders and then later on several years later on, actual formal diplomatic relations were normalized in 1979 and the united states transferred its recognition from beijing -- from taiwan to beijing, having beijing and the people's republic of china being the sole government of china. now that happened because of largely strategic reasons at the time.

the soviet unit have become the adversary of both the u.s. and the people's republic of china. and president nixon thought it would be a much better strategic thing for the united states to have good relations with china as it developed relations or tried to develop relations with russia rather than having russia and china have good relations. so both china and the u.s. had a common interest in working with each other to try to maneuver against counter -- exert leverage against the soviet union at that time. so that is the origins of the shift. but nixon also wanted to have contact with china because he thought it was ridiculous to be shunning one billion people -- i guess at that time was less than one billion people come 800 million people -- on the planet as we thought would serve no positive purpose and we needed to have a normal relationship

with the people's republic of china. so for taiwan, although we into diplomatic relations with taiwan and no longer regarded taiwan as a government that represented china and sovereign independent state, we acknowledged without formally recognizing that we acknowledged and did not challenge the chinese position that taiwan is a part of china. and so we also established relations with taiwan. but unofficial relations, not diplomatic relations, which included contact economic, social, cultural level, some degree of governmental level, but not to diplomatic means. amy: 10 seconds. >> than the sale of arms. so we have this kind of balance now that the united states has try to keep in its relations with taiwan, which is now fraying badly. amy: this is something we will continue to cover. michael swaine, director of the quincy institute's east asia program.

longtime u.s.-china relations analyst. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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