The top diplomats of the United States and China met recently in Anchorage, Alaska, and the focus was on the exchange of words between the two sides. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an editorial on the 21st under the name of the entire editorial board, saying that the Biden administration should face up to the “lessons of Anchorage” because China, Russia, Iran and other hostile countries have apparently sensed the weakness of the U.S. side, trying to test whether they can manipulate the U.S. powers that be again, among which China is the most threatening.
The article points out that at the pre-conference press conference between Secretary of State Blinken and White House National Security Advisor Sullivan, and Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Blinken spoke for two minutes according to the process, while Yang Jiechi spent nearly 20 minutes “reprimanding” (tongue lashing) in one breath The U.S. is not.
The article quotes informed sources as saying that the Chinese delegation’s private exchange of views was as tough as the public conversation, “The Chinese made it clear that after Trump‘s ouster, they want the U.S. to return to its position of tolerating China’s rise in the Obama era,” i.e., to respond weakly to China’s hacking and intellectual property theft practices, and to give up its efforts in Asia. They also want the U.S. to stop criticizing or sanctioning China for violating the Sino-British Joint Declaration, threatening to invade Taiwan, and imprisoning the Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Although the Biden Administration has been quite tough on China in terms of rhetoric during its first 2 months in office, and Blinken and Sullivan have managed to consolidate allies in the Indo-Pacific region before the Anchorage summit, the real challenge for the U.S. is “how to respond properly to the provocative attempts of adversaries such as Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran “
Chinese, Russian, and Iranian strongmen leaders clearly remember how they advanced their own national goals under the watchful eyes of the liberal internationalists of the original Obama team and the Biden team today, including Russia’s invasion of Crimea and deep penetration into Syria; China’s push to militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea and steal U.S. secrets; and Iran’s terrorist activities in the Middle East through proxy organizations and its “The Iranian nuclear deal has been undermined by former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
These regional powers are now eyeing to test whether the Biden administration will become “Obama’s second”. The article says that Washington’s attempts to induce the Tehran authorities to return to negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal are a sign of weakness. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also bound to act against U.S. interests after being criticized by Biden as an “executioner” (killer).
As for China’s growing confidence in its strategic advantages, it will undoubtedly pose the greatest challenge to the United States. Beijing’s strongman mentality is similar to that of the Soviet Union in the 1970s, convinced that the United States is weakening and the Communists are rising; the difference is that China’s economic strength is much stronger than that of the Soviet Union.
Among the issues, Taiwan’s future will be the most daunting challenge for the United States. Taiwan, as the world’s leading producer of semiconductors, is critical to U.S. economic interests and an important partner in democracy. However, Xi Jinping has made it clear that taking Taiwan is a top priority and that China’s military is progressing toward being able to launch a rapid attack and invasion of Taiwan. Xi would be happy to cooperate with the United States on climate change issues in exchange for silence on Taiwan.
The article strongly urges that rogue regimes around the world are testing Biden’s resolve and that the U.S. government needs to face up to the “lessons of Anchorage.
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