According to a report from Reuters, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been unable to speak with China’s top military official despite multiple attempts to set up talks.
Tensions have been high between the militaries of the two nations due to the increased US military activity in sensitive areas like the South China Sea. US warships are regularly patrolling the disputed waters and frequently shadow Chinese ships. US spy planes are also constantly buzzing near China’s coast.
An unnamed US official told Reuters that there was a debate within the Biden administration about whether Austin should speak with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe or the vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, Xu Qiliang. Xu is a member of China’s politburo and is said to have more influence with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
US officials told the Financial Times that Austin had made three requests to speak with Xu, but China has decided not to engage. While a high-level military meeting has not happened between the two countries during the Biden administration, there has been communication between the armed forces at lower levels.
Beijing certainly has reasons to be hesitant to engage with Austin. In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a high-level meeting with China’s top diplomats in Alaska. Blinken opened the talks by accusing China of threatening the “rules-based order,” and things quickly fell apart from there.
The rhetoric out of the Biden administration has been harsh when it comes to Beijing, and the Pentagon has identified China as the top “pacing threat” facing the US military. In his first address to Congress, President Biden said the US was in a competition with China to “win the 21st century.” He also said that he told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the US will militarize the Indo-Pacific “just as we do with NATO in Europe.”
The Chinese refusing to talk with the US will scare the hell out of the americans , I might be wrong but IMO the Chinese Government is playing the long game american presidents come and go the Chinese Government never really changes so there is continuity .
And furthermore, the Chinese govt. also understands how unreliable any agreements with the US govt. are. Witness what has been happening for five years now with the nuclear agreement with Iran.
What are the benefits of engaging? No reliable agreement or understanding can possibly result. Whether it’s a probing attempt to gain information or more of the same insults and threats, there’s not a lot of reason to do so.
Thinking the same.
Posted comment on ZeroHedge too.
The only possible result of talking with US regime is insult, threat or broken promises.
So, why bother?
It is hard to believe it, but Biden is vying to be even worse, more belligerent and offensive, than his predecessors. The “rules based order” the US insists on is the minority against the rest, ignoring international law and the UN, the only freedom is individual freedom, the only way to interpret human rights is projecting a modern, Western, individualistic version of what it means to be human on other cultures.
OMG!… That’s so RACIST!!
Maybe he is reaching too high. Try the second or the third rung.
Maybe China saw how well we stick to our ‘deals’ with the JCPOA and others. Or maybe the Chinese guy just doesn’t like our guy.