Today, U.S. and Chinese diplomats will meet in Alaska, where the top Chinese diplomats, Yang Jiechi, the deputy head of the Communist Party’s Central Leading Group on Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, the Communist Party’s Foreign Minister, and Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor, and Antony J. Blinken, the Secretary of State, are the top diplomatic officials on both sides. The meeting of the four, of course, was to talk about U.S.-China relations.
This was the first meeting of senior diplomats from both sides in exactly nine months since Pompeo met with Yang Jiechi in July of last year. The official channels between the U.S. and China have been virtually severed in the past few months, and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing now has no official ambassador, only a chargé d’affaires. And Cui Tiankai, the Communist Party’s ambassador to the United States, does not see any senior U.S. government officials, except for newspaper articles. Even Biden‘s swearing-in ceremony, which Cui Tiankai chose not to attend because of the presence of Meiqin Xiao from the Taiwan Representative Office, missed an opportunity to make eye contact with the new U.S. officials.
Therefore, today’s meeting is quite important for the Chinese Communist Party. The People’s Daily praised the meeting as a “positive development”; CCTV emphasized that the meeting was “invited by the U.S. side” and that it was held in Alaska, the geographical midpoint between the U.S. and China, highlighting that it was a “meeting of equals The CCTV emphasized that the meeting was “invited by the U.S. side” and that it was held in Alaska, the midway point between the two countries. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian even described the meeting as a “high-level strategic dialogue between China and the United States.
This underscores the importance of this meeting to Xi. The reason is simple: the CCP is facing multiple dilemmas, most of which are related to the frozen relations with the United States. For Xi to be re-elected at the 20th Communist Party Congress in 2022, he needs to have achievements and successes to explain to the party. The only two things he can show now are his achievements in fighting the Epidemic and lifting all people out of poverty. However, the epidemic was transmitted from Wuhan, China, and it is no good to turn it into a great victory even if you wipe your own buttocks clean; while the universal poverty alleviation is a complete joke in the eyes of the people.
Easing relations with the U.S. and fighting for the relaxation of U.S. economic and technological sanctions against the CCP can be said to be a key in determining whether Xi Jinping can produce results in the next two years.
Since Biden became president, his policy toward the CCP has been less clear and ambiguous. Although he refers to the CCP as the biggest competitor, his tone is actually much more moderate than that of Trump and Pompeo. Because of this, Chinese officials have repeatedly made public statements calling on the U.S. to engage in dialogue and to “move in the same direction”, and have communicated with the White House through their “ties” in the U.S., expressing the hope that the dialogue mechanism will resume as soon as possible.
But this is only Xi’s intention. Other factions within the Chinese Communist Party may not want him to succeed in this move.
Last week, on the eve of the resumption of the U.S.-China high-level dialogue, two events took place in China.
The first occurred in Shanghai, where a total of six American students in Shanghai were suddenly raided by police and arrested by public security police.
The six American students were arrested in two separate incidents, all on the same day and unrelated to each other, coincidentally, all six were students at New York University in Shanghai.
One of the incidents occurred at a bar where two American students, one male and one female, were arrested by plainclothes police officers who burst into the bar. The male student was allegedly kicked in the head by the police and the female student had visible bruises and was also beaten up.
In another incident, seven foreign students, four of whom were American students, were having a birthday party at their Home when plainclothes police officers swooped in to search for them.
The Washington Post quoted NYU Shanghai staff as saying that all seven arrested tested negative for drugs and that they were released after being detained for 11 to 16 hours.
Of particular note was the fact that the Shanghai police officers were all dressed in plain clothes, with no badges, no identification, and no translators on hand, creating considerable fear and confusion among the seven students. One of the students said that the police used unnecessary force. Because of the sudden intrusion of plainclothes, one American girl was so frightened that she didn’t know what had broken in, she broke free and fled, tried to call school security, and was caught and beaten back.
One of the details of the report is that the Shanghai police officers were in plain clothes, not wearing uniforms, not showing papers, and not giving reasons for the arrests, and that they did “drug tests” on these people. Presumably, they figured that the American students must have been using drugs, so they could find a reason to arrest them 100% of the Time. The drug tests came back negative, so they were released.
Another incident occurred in Hong Kong.
Two staff members of the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau were infected with the Chinese Communist virus and were closed on March 16 and 17 for two days of deep disinfection and cleaning.
However, the Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao, nicknamed the “organ of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong,” and the online media outlet Dot News, which is controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, reported a huge They said that according to “reliable information”, “the Chinese government has been able to get the news. They said that, according to “reliable sources,” two employees of the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau who were infected with the disease “refused to accept the quarantine arrangement on the grounds of diplomatic immunity, and are still roaming the community and returning to the U.S. Consulate as usual, posing a huge threat to the work of preventing and combating the epidemic. “. The two men were described as “spreading poison around” by walking around the streets.
Wen Wei Po said, “Sources said that the infected couple at the U.S. Consulate had refused to be quarantined on the grounds of diplomatic immunity”, “after the Department of health issued an injunction, the two have been sent to a public hospital for isolation and treatment”.
On the 16th, protesters outside the U.S. Consulate put up slogans such as “No privileges” and “Quarantine the diagnosed at the U.S. Consulate as soon as possible. “The U.S. consulate has been in a state of shock since the beginning of the year.
The U.S. Consulate later issued a statement saying that the CCP-controlled media “disseminated false information about the two positive test results of U.S. Consulate employees and our response,” criticizing the report as false and stating that it “opposes the dissemination of false information on important public health issues. “. The U.S. consulate also attached a press release issued by the Hong Kong government to the tweet.
The press release from the Hong Kong government said the two U.S. consulate staff members initially diagnosed with the virus have been quarantined at a hospital, adding that the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong is “fully cooperating with the Hong Kong government in the fight against the epidemic.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam confirmed Tuesday morning (16) that the two confirmed U.S. Consulate staff members were hospitalized and quarantined on the evening of the 15th, noting that this coincided with the release of the U.S. Consulate’s news that someone had been infected.
We would like to ask: What kind of sources did the two newspapers, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, rely on to make this report? It is very easy to verify this news by sending a message to the Hong Kong government, the U.S. consulate, or the hospital. But the two Chinese communist media did not do it, but simply sent out false news.
The only explanation is that the “source” was so authoritative that the two Chinese media outlets did not think it was necessary to seek further confirmation. The two newspapers, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, have been fully taken over by the CPSU system for more than a decade, and their direct supervisor is the Liaison Office. So is this “source” actually from the Liaison Office?
We are not talking nonsense when we say this. Because in addition to the fake news reported by the media controlled by the Liaison Office, the so-called pro-establishment political organizations controlled by the Liaison Office immediately went to the U.S. consulate to protest and demonstrate. This feels like there must be a force behind the coordination and arrangement.
The DAB and the FTU, the mainstay of the CCP underground in Hong Kong. In the past, similar work was done by other so-called civic organizations, such as the Youth Care Association (YCA) and the Love Hong Kong Force (愛港力), all of which were peripheral organizations of the CCP, and they usually took the lead, leaving to them what the CCP was too embarrassed to do on its own. The DAB and the FTU, however, are the direct forces of the Liaison Office.
So then the question is, why create such an obvious and easily debunked fake news?
The timing of one incident in Shanghai and the other in Hong Kong both coincided with a meeting between senior U.S. and Chinese diplomats that was important to Xi Jinping. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence. The greater possibility, if not the only possibility, is that someone is digging a hole for Xi Jinping.
The inexplicable fake news and protests in Hong Kong are clearly the work of officials. And two inexplicable events were able to ignite just the right amount of American anger. This is really a clever way to set the stage for the US-China meeting on the 18th.
Who is digging a hole for Xi Jinping? You can analyze it yourself.
Ten hours after the fake news story in Hong Kong, the State Department submitted a report under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act listing 24 Hong Kong and Chinese officials involved in the erosion of China’s obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, another sanction taken by the U.S. against the Chinese Communist Party for violating Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Secretary Blinken noted that the current release of the updated Hong Kong Autonomy Law report underscores Washington’s deep concern that the Communist Party’s National People’s Congress passed the Decision on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on March 11, arguing that the resolution unilaterally undermines Hong Kong’s electoral system.
“This move further undermines the high degree of autonomy that was promised to Hong Kong people and deprives them of a voice in self-government, and has been declared by the United Kingdom to be a violation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.” Blinken said.
“It is essential to defend our shared democratic values and work together to hold those who threaten those values to account.”
The list of sanctioned Chinese and Hong Kong officials includes 14 vice chairmen of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China National People’s Congress, as well as officials attached to the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the Office for the Maintenance of National Security in Hong Kong.
Foreign financial institutions will also face sanctions if they engage in significant transactions with the above-mentioned individuals, Blinken said.
The U.S.-Japan Security Agreement Commission (2 plus 2 talks) was held in Tokyo on the afternoon of APT 16, the same day as the Hong Kong fake news story. Secretary of State John Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Japan’s foreign and defense ministers issued a joint statement after the meeting, directly criticizing the Chinese Communist Party by name. Some in the media considered this a very “rare” approach.
First, they emphasized the broader threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo-Pacific region, including the implementation of the Maritime Police Act, which allows Chinese maritime police vessels to use force against foreign vessels, and maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law.
The statement also expressed grave concern about CCP human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and other regions, and emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
U.S. Defense Secretary Austin also told the media that “China [the Chinese Communist Party] is our primary threat. Our goal is to make sure that we have the capability, the operational plans and concepts that can create a credible deterrent to China (CCP) or anyone who wants to counter the United States.”
In response to the joint U.S.-Japanese statement, CCP Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian countered on the same day, saying, “The U.S. and Japan should engage in exchanges and cooperation that will help enhance mutual understanding and trust between countries, contribute to solidarity and cooperation among regional countries as well as peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and should not target or harm the interests of third parties.”
The atmosphere at the Alaska meeting has cooled off completely.
Originally for the Chinese Communist Party, they may not have hoped that there would be big results, but they could have finalized a schedule of regular meetings or even invited mutual visits, if not Xi Jinping or Biden to visit each other, at least an official visit by the foreign minister or the secretary of state. Beijing can then propagate internally that the U.S. has softened, has meekly returned to the negotiating table, has continued to cooperate, and that the world cannot turn without China. These statements may be a joke externally, but they may be very effective internally. Now it looks likely to fizzle out.
The people who dug a hole for Xi Jinping seem to have a lot of energy.
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