VOA Today's Focus (October 8, 2026)

This episode of VOA Today's Focus broadcasted U.S. Secretary of State Rubio's speech in Athens, Greece, calling for Western civilization to unite in addressing great power competition and common threats. At the same time, the program invited multiple experts and scholars to conduct in-depth analysis of U.S.-European relations, the cultural roots of the Axial Age, and the economic and political challenges within the framework of East-West competition.

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Welcome to VOA Today's Focus for October 8. I am Fan Dongning, broadcasting live from the U.S. capital, Washington. Today we bring you a special program on U.S. Secretary of State Rubio's speech in Greece, inviting experts from across the U.S. and Europe to provide an in-depth analysis of this important address. Here is today's headline news: U.S. Secretary of State Rubio delivered a speech in Greece, calling for the restoration of Western civilization to counter great power competition; President Trump confirmed he will hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin focusing on the Siberian plague outbreak, stating that he does not believe the outbreak is a biological weapon; North Korea criticized U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and the White House told VOA that President Trump will make a decision on the latest batch of arms sales to Taiwan in the near future.

Let's first look at the news from the United States. U.S. President Trump announced on October 7 that the Treasury Department has automatically established tax-free investment and savings accounts, known as Trump Accounts, for approximately 70 million eligible American children. Let's look at the VOA television report. U.S. President Trump announced at the White House on October 7 that tax-free investment and savings accounts known as Trump Accounts have been established for approximately 70 million American children under the age of 18. This project is part of the Large-Scale American Act passed by the U.S. Congress and was launched starting July 4 of this year. President Trump stated that every American child should enjoy a fair opportunity to achieve the American dream, and today I am very pleased to announce that a Trump Account has now been automatically opened for every eligible minor child in the United States. According to the plan, the U.S. government will automatically set up a tax-free investment account for each child. The funds in this account will continue to appreciate as they grow and will be available for their use after reaching the age of 18 to benefit themselves. After the automatic establishment of the Trump Account, parents or guardians still need to actively claim the account and manage it, allowing others to inject funds into it, in order to ensure that eligible children can receive a one-time federal deposit of $1000. President Trump urged more parents to claim the accounts.

Now, let's turn to the latest news on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. North Korea criticized U.S. arms sales to Taiwan on Wednesday, accusing Washington of heightening tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Two new F-16V fighter jets sold by the U.S. to Taiwan arrived in Taiwan last week. White House officials stated in a response to VOA's related inquiry today that President Trump will make a decision on the new arms sales plan for Taiwan within a relatively short period of time. White House officials stated in an email reply to VOA on Wednesday that President Trump will make a decision on the new arms sales plan for Taiwan in a fairly short time, and emphasized that President Trump has already taken action on the issue of arms sales to Taiwan. White House officials also emphasized in the email that President Trump approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan last December, which is the largest scale arms sales plan to Taiwan in history. During his first term, President Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan than any president in history, and in the first year of his second term, President Trump approved arms sales that exceeded the total of President Biden's entire four-year term.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a speech at the Pnyx in Athens on Wednesday, October 7. He stated that Western civilization stands at a crossroads, and the path it chooses will determine whether the West maintains its position as a world leader or heads toward decline. He noted that under the leadership of President Trump, the United States has chosen to pursue national strength, revitalize its economy and national defense, regain control over critical supply chains, and strive for dominance in future technologies and industries. Let us look at the television report from Voice of America. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a speech at the Pnyx hill in Athens on Wednesday, October 7, stating that the threats faced today are as real as those faced by ancient Greece, and the West must rebuild its institutions and alliances to jointly address these threats. We are at a turning point, not only in the history of my country but in the history of our entire civilization. The threats we face today are as real as those that played out on the stage of ancient history; national interests have not disappeared because of the existence of international institutions, and war has not ceased to exist simply because we yearn for peace. Other nations are still expanding their military capabilities, seeking influence, and competing over territory, technology, resources, markets, energy, and power. Today, war has returned, great power competition has returned, and vulnerabilities, aggression, terrorism, and various new threats and attacks have also returned. Therefore, we must rebuild our institutions and alliances to jointly address these threats.

Secretary of State Rubio pointed out that when the West leaves a vacuum due to weakness, others are happy to fill it; when Western confidence wavers, its adversaries and competitors become increasingly assertive. Today we stand at a crossroads, because the next decade and the decisions we make will write the history of the next century. The path we choose will determine whether the West continues to maintain its world-leading position or allows itself to drift toward a future of atrophy, submission, and decline. We must either choose to act now, or we will eventually lose the very option to act. Under the leadership of President Trump, the United States has made its choice: we have chosen to pursue national strength without hesitation, regain control of our critical supply chains, promote the re-industrialization of our economy, rebuild our national defense, and compete for dominance in future technologies and industries. We have chosen to open up new frontiers, including advanced manufacturing, super-intelligence, drones, weapons and warfare, as well as chips, minerals, networks, and everything within the reach of human potential. We will unleash our energy potential, rebuild our factories, return our astronauts to the moon, and open a new era of space exploration.

Secretary of State Rubio also cited the new agreement reached between the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland as an example that will consolidate the security of the entire NATO alliance and create a win-win-win situation, expressing hope that Europe can awaken from its long slumber. We believe that Europe can awaken from its long slumber and rekindle the spark that once shone here a thousand years ago. On this continent, there are signs that we are witnessing the beginning of what promises to be a generational transformation. Defense spending is increasing sharply, various new partnerships and cooperation projects are emerging, and manufacturing and production capacities are expanding. Following the historic defense commitments made in The Hague last year, Greece has been at the heart of this transformation. Whether in the fields of energy, immigration, or defense, Greece has demonstrated the model behavior of an ally, once again proving itself to be an indispensable partner for Europe and the United States. We sincerely hope that all of Europe will take Greece as an example. VOA reporter Liu Wenming reporting from Washington.

In his speech in Greece today, Secretary of State Rubio emphasized that Western civilization stands at a historical crossroads. So, can Western civilization continue to maintain its position as a world leader, or is it possible that it will head toward decline? Today, on our special program VOA Today's Focus, we have invited several experts from the U.S. and Europe to conduct an in-depth analysis of Rubio's speech. First, let us listen to the analysis from Robert Daly, Director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center. In this speech, my feeling is that there is a sense of crisis—as you just mentioned—that the West is facing a crisis, including this so-called decline of the West. So, do you think the West is indeed in decline? Is it facing such a crisis? Does the situation he presented accurately reflect the current state of affairs? I think the United States has long entered a cultural crisis, mainly because the U.S. lacks a spirit of unity. Of course, the spirit of unity in other countries is too extreme, which is also not good. However, I think in this regard, both the American left and right have problems. For decades, the left has emphasized that one of America's greatest strengths is its diversity, and I cherish that. But while we welcome new immigrants and praise diversity, we should also emphasize what the cohesion of the American people is, what our common ground is, and what we should all believe in and pursue. The American left and the Democratic Party downplay these things, and I admit this is a very big mistake. At the same time, the American Republican Party denies the importance of diversity, feeling that these things threaten the opportunities for true, authentic Americans. The problem is here: the crisis in the United States is this polarization, this division is a very big problem, and this danger does not come from other civilizations.

However, historian Pan Dongkai in London stated that the speech delivered by Rubio in Greece today is actually a continuation of the speech he gave earlier this year on February 14 in Munich, as well as the speech delivered by Vice President Vance in Munich last year. It represents the "America First" policy of the Trump administration and the current view of the U.S. government toward Europe. However, compared to the speech Vance gave in Munich last year, this speech delivered by Secretary of State Rubio at the request of President Trump is actually less confrontational, turning instead to more skillfully emphasize the shared civilizational roots between the United States and Europe. Let us listen to what the historian has to say. That speech at the European security conference, the Vice President's, was different; it was not so confrontational and was very respectful of Europe, because the United States and the West, and Europe, belong to the same West, the same cultural origin. This is the ancestor; without this, there would be no United States, right? So we are not saying we look down on you, but rather that you have problems now, and we are all worried, because if you fall, we have nothing left, right? So, why go to Greece now? Let's focus on that. The Secretary of State's speech was very clear. He said that the American Founding Fathers, the Federalists, mentioned many things in their documents, including many references to Plutarch and many theories from ancient Greece. In addition to mentioning these ancient Greek theories, he also specifically mentioned that the American founding spirit is actually rooted in this civilization from Greece. Furthermore, during the Renaissance, there was not only literature, poetry, and art, but the starting point for all of these came from Greek traditions. Therefore, this speech can be said to have brought the origin of Western civilization back to its birthplace, which is Athens, Greece. Historian Pan Dongkai in London further stated that what everyone is paying close attention to regarding Rubio's speech in Greece is that, although he did not name China or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he believes this is a case of "pointing at the mulberry tree to curse the locust tree," implying that Western civilization, which originated in Greece, is a countermeasure against the communist virus that symbolizes a death cult. Let us continue to listen to the historian. Returning to that starting point, that starting point is what? It is ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greek civilization is the foundation of European civilization. Well, actually, we have another segment of this interview. Let's see if the director can play it, regarding our historian talking about the part of Secretary of State Rubio's speech where he did not mention China. Let us continue to listen to the expert. Well, today we have invited many different scholars to the scene to look at this speech delivered by Secretary of State Rubio in Greece from various perspectives. Now on our screen is Mr. Zhou Tianwei, CEO of a strategy firm based in California and a legal scholar. Mr. Zhou Tianwei, welcome to the VOA Focus Dialogue. Hello, host. Thank you, thank you for giving me an opportunity to explain this issue. Thank you. Well, first of all, we saw Secretary of State Rubio deliver this speech in Athens, Greece. He was at a place with great historical significance, the Pnyx. First, I would like to ask you, why do you think Secretary of State Rubio chose Greece to deliver this important speech about Western civilization? Mr. Zhou Tianwei: There are several aspects to look at this issue. First, in terms of historical context, the first big question is the Axial Age. Athens is the root of the Western Axial Age. We know that the Axial Age occurred between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century BC, over a period of 600 years. In the East, there was Confucius and Laozi; in India, there was the Buddha; and in the West, there were the great philosophers we know: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The background location is a "City upon a Hill." We know that President Reagan gave a very famous speech where he said he hoped the United States would become a new, shining "City upon a Hill." Where did that concept come from? It actually came from Athens. You can see this photo of Athens; this background is essentially the site of the assembly at that time, a democratic community—Athens—that discussed and decided the future of the country. As a democratic community, how was it embodied? It was humanism, meaning that the citizens of Athens could gather together to participate in voting, discussions, and debates. So, this is a venue with great symbolic significance, a place with an epoch-making meaning that has lasted through the ages. Its influence on future generations is, of course, immense. So it is an image, it is a symbol. Rubio choosing such a place echoes the "shining City upon a Hill" mentioned by Reagan, and it also echoes the origin of the West in the Axial Age—an era that expressed the human spirit, the humanist spirit, the spirit of a democratic community, and rationalism together. Therefore, this is a very important talk, and he chose such a place with great historical significance.

So Mr. Zhou Tianwei, besides the location chosen by Secretary of State Rubio for his speech, we must look at the entire context. In fact, this also echoes his speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany earlier this year on February 14th, as well as another speech delivered to Europe, which also received a great response at the time. Even just now, some experts have suggested that this is actually a continuation of Trump 2.0. This includes the fact that last year at the same Munich conference, Vice President Vance also delivered a speech to Europe, and of course, the target of his message was the allies in Europe. Do you think that if we look at this as a consistent thread, with all three speeches addressing European allies, can it really strengthen the current relationship between the U.S. and its European allies to jointly address great power competition? Mr. Zhou Tianwei, yes, his intention is very clear. We know that President Trump sometimes speaks quite strongly, and in his past remarks, he has expressed opposition to globalism and rejected the so-called "end of history" thesis, sometimes using very strong language. As a result, when Vance gave his speech in Europe, he also maintained a very high-profile, and in some places, not very friendly tone. However, when Rubio gave his first speech this year, the Munich speech, he had a much better diplomatic performance. He chose to say that we actually come from the same roots, and that the United States is a child of Europe. When you say something like that, its appeal is very strong, and the audience it can attract is expanded, the entire scope is expanded. So that speech was very significant in terms of repair. This consistent thread of speeches, and the effects it has produced, are also very broad and meaningful. We know that in terms of background, the development of modern times is actually based on the foundations of Athens and Rome, establishing a "six-in-one" structure. Athens can be said to be a trinity of democratic republic, rationalism, and humanism. But after the development of modern times, Western civilization as a whole has made significant progress. In this progress, democracy is paired with the rule of law, allowing democracy to be equipped with the "tightening spell" of the rule of law to limit the abuse of power and the excesses of democracy. The pairing of democracy and the rule of law, followed by the pairing of liberalism and private property rights, and then the pairing of capitalism, the welfare state, and humanitarianism—once these six things were paired together, they truly brought about a leap in world civilization over the past hundred years, a great deal of progress, and significant economic growth. At this stage, as the scholars have just mentioned, the challenges faced by the United States and Europe are numerous, and the crises are also many. It is far from the optimistic moment when the Cold War ended. We know that Fukuyama, the American political scientist, had a discussion—there is a book called "The End of History"—that overly optimistic atmosphere has passed. The West is facing great challenges and many crises exist, including internal crises, and as you just mentioned, the transition from a unipolar society to a multipolar world. Under these various crises, the plan proposed by President Trump, after being polished, refined, and detailed by Rubio, has become richer and more interesting. That is the situation.

Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Zhou Tianwei. We will continue to consult you later. However, we now have the perspective of another scholar that we can add to our discussion today, which is that Secretary Rubio emphasized the importance of Western civilization and democracy, and also called for the revitalization of the Western spirit. Therefore, we have invited Professor Yao-yuan Yeh, Chair of the International Studies Department at the University of St. Thomas in the United States, to help us interpret the core values and characteristics of this expression of the Western spirit, and to tell us how the US government should view America's role in the West and the world. Let us listen to Professor Yao-yuan Yeh's views. Because this time Rubio is in Athens, the city where democracy sprouted, to talk about the so-called spirit of Western civilization or the importance of democracy, to a certain extent, he is naturally using this location to talk about how strong the connection is between democracy and Western civilization itself. Especially discussing this matter at this juncture, I think to a certain extent it is also related to the current strategic competition of the United States, or the potential rivalries of the United States, especially whether it is Russia or China, the different ideologies they bring, their challenges to the United States, and the differences between the values they symbolize and those of the United States. So when he emphasizes this, to a certain extent he also hopes to use the value of this Western civilization and democratic spirit as a rallying cry to appeal to various European countries or democratic countries, saying that actually what we are facing today is a common challenge, we share common values, but at the present stage, our common values are being confronted by so-called communism or so-called non-democratic systems, these autocratic systems that are opposing the values we represent. So in this talk, he actually put these two things together. Of course, he doesn't necessarily mean it is a purely East-West confrontation, because after all, many so-called Eastern countries are also democratic countries, so he is just using the city of Athens as a starting point to talk about this combination of Western civilization and democratic spirit. This is not simply an East-West confrontation, but its confrontation is targeted at the confrontation between America's non-democratic competitors and the United States. In fact, tracing it to its root, the Western spirit is the spirit of freedom, the spirit of democracy, and the core spirit of capitalism. The Western spirit, with the United States as its main exporter, generally cannot be separated from these three points. Of course, whether every country takes these three points very seriously—freedom and democracy—actually most countries, especially Western countries, believe that this is naturally the core of the Western national spirit, and it is the foundation of human rights. But at the same time, as for capitalism, of course some countries have policies that are relatively more socialist, but at least they still stand on the position of being pro-capitalism and anti-communism. Therefore, what Marco Rubio—what Rubio talked about this time regarding the Western national spirit—is mainly appealing to these three points. And of course, usually if he continues to elaborate, he will also talk about so-called basic human rights. However, because the objects of his appeal basically already have basic human rights, it seems just in the two sectors of democracy and freedom, and the sector of the confrontation between capitalism and communism, that they do not seem to be standing with the United States. Therefore, when he re-elaborates on this Western construction, naturally it is to describe values where they seem to have forgotten the core differences between themselves and China.

Alright, after hearing the perspective from Professor Yeh Yao-yuan in Taiwan, we have also invited Professor Li Shang-ming from the International Business Lecture at Old Dominion University to join us in the studio. Professor Li, our previous guest framed Secretary Rubio's speech within the context of an East-West confrontation. This naturally reminds the audience that back in 2001, Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned that Eastern civilization, represented by China, is rising, while Western civilization, represented by the United States, is declining—the so-called theory of the "East rising and the West declining." To some extent, this echoes Mao Zedong's 1957 statement that "the East wind prevails over the West wind." Now, we see officials from the Trump 2.0 administration repeatedly emphasizing, through the Munich Security Conference or this speech in Athens, Greece, that Western civilization must not be allowed to decline. How do you analyze these speeches within this framework of East-West confrontation, Professor Li? This perspective is also very interesting. Of course, I think everyone is more concerned with the political concepts of freedom and democracy when thinking of East-West confrontation, but in fact, there are many economic concepts involved here as well. For example, why does Xi Jinping feel confident enough to talk about the "East rising and the West declining"? I want to summarize it from a political and economic standpoint. One is his so-called "low human rights advantage." We all know that China lacks human rights; laborers have no rights, and assets can be arbitrarily confiscated. However, low human rights in themselves do not constitute an advantage—North Korea also lacks human rights, even worse than China, so what advantage does it have? But once low human rights are integrated into the global trade system, it becomes an advantage. This is where China took a huge advantage by joining the WTO. The biggest mistake of the WTO and the entire international trade organization was allowing China to integrate economically while remaining politically detached; it gained a significant "low human rights advantage." But Xi Jinping has another point in this economy, which is the so-called "state-led model." China can use its totalitarian politics to mobilize the nation's financial resources to accomplish major tasks. For instance, if he says he wants to develop electric vehicle batteries, he can develop photovoltaic batteries, or high-speed rail, right? So, from an economic perspective, he has indeed been very aggressive in recent years, and recently Europe has also become increasingly fearful and started to push back. Well, regarding Rubio's speech, he started from Greece because he was in Greece, which is obvious. But what is Greek civilization? It was the invention of democracy and concepts like the city-state society hundreds of years ago. But what civilizations existed alongside Greece? There were China, India, and those in South America, such as the Maya or the Inca, as well as Egypt and Persia. These civilizations existed, but look, they have all disappeared. Only Greek civilization has continued to what we now call Western civilization. Therefore, the political and economic systems used by all democratic, developed countries in the world today can trace their origins back to Greece. This civilization is indeed accepted by the whole world now, including China; only this civilization is truly the foundation upon which modern technology, politics, economy, and culture are built. Regarding what Rubio said, I think from the American side—the comparison you just mentioned is very interesting—but we cannot forget, in fact, how do we compete with China? Hasn't it risen? Doesn't it have a low human rights advantage? Its products occupy the whole world, or it uses the state-led model, so what should we do? I think this is the core of the speech: restoring the spirit of hard work from when the United States was founded. In fact, scholars also talk about this—we are listening—he is now mentioning American exceptionalism. Some translate it as "specialism," but it's not specialism; I think "exceptional" is very good, it means superiority, "exceptionalism." Yes. So, his exceptionalism is actually rooted in Greece. Well then, what are the points of American exceptionalism? Perhaps everyone has their own interpretation, but I simply summarize it into four points. The first is honesty; Americans call it honesty, which is also related to religion. The second is diligence; they are diligent, including entrepreneurship and innovation. He refers to "industriousness," that is the meaning. So, those are two points of diligence. What are the other two? One is family, and the other is the church. What is family? No, Professor Li, time is limited, so we cannot let you finish these four points, but we hope to have you for another interview to discuss the US-China relationship and East-West issues. So, I will conclude with one last sentence, Professor Li: all these things have been slowly declining, so he wants to restore them to compete with the East. That is where I will end. Alright, thank you very much, Professor Li Shang-ming, for accepting our interview on this special program today. Thank you for watching, and see you next time.