In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Biden took aim at China and said winning the “competition” with Beijing should “unite all of us.”
“Before I came to office, the story was about how the People’s Republic of China was increasing its power and America was falling in the world. Not anymore,” the president said.
Biden insisted that he made clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping that he seeks “competition, not conflict.” But the president said he makes “no apologies” for the fact that the US was investing in “industries that will define the future, and that China’s government is intent on dominating.”
Part of President Biden’s strategy to compete with China is through harsh sanctions that intend to cripple China’s semiconductor industry. As part of this effort, his administration is pressuring Japan and the Netherlands to also limit chip exports to China.
In the speech, Biden said to compete with China, the US was “investing in our alliances and working with our allies to protect our advanced technologies so they’re not used against us.” He said the US is modernizing its “military to safeguard stability and deter aggression.”
The address came a few days after the US shot down a Chinese balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it passed through the United States. Beijing insists it was a weather balloon, while Washington says it was a spy balloon. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled his trip to China over the incident.
“Make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did,” Biden said of the balloon incident. “And let’s be clear: winning the competition with [China] should unite all of us.”
The president made little mention of the war in Ukraine besides platitudes about “standing up” for vague principles. “Putin’s invasion has been a test for the ages. A test for America. A test for the world. Would we stand for the most basic of principles?” he said.
Biden recognized that the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, was in attendance but didn’t say her name. “Ambassador, America is united in our support for your country. We will stand with you as long as it takes,” he said.
Overall, Biden’s speech focused very little on foreign policy. He closed the speech by saying, “May God protect our troops,” but did not mention any of the wars they are fighting in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen.
Why are we needing to beat China again?
Because China is offering to the world a more fair political system.
China beat America in Korea ,
And Vietnam.
No, the Vietnamese beat the USA because they were sick of colonialism.
They had a lot of help, Jay.
Why are we needing to beat China again?
because they are the bad guys
Because on a level playing field we cannot beat China economically.
To defeat capitalistic communism.
The Central Committee of the USSR bungled the management of industry so badly that it was assumed that Communism could never compete with Capitalism in terms of economic efficiency.
I imagine that what Biden fears most about the Chinese government is that it can directly promote highly efficient disruptive technologies. Xi can literally create a well financed world class competitor in some disruptive industry with just a signature. And this version of communism has shown an ability to produce better products at a lower price than the US. The Chips and Science Act is a Biden attempt to throw government financing into the semiconductor industry. The Act is a slap in the face to Capitalism. And yet Biden thought it was necessary.
The contest between Biden and Xi is essentially about whether Capitalism or Communism is best able to stimulate economic growth. Biden fears that Capitalism will lose that contest. American Big Business probably feels the same way.
One of the things about Biden that I worry about is that he tends to apply autocratic measures within a Capitalist framework. I believe that when government starts getting directly involved in promoting industries within a Capitalist framework, the outcome will be national socialism. Combine that with a charismatic politician, and everything I was taught about what America stands for… can go right out the window.
Yes, but we’ve been witness to the blossoming of National Socialism (aka, neo-conservatism/neoliberalism) since Ronny Reagan. And our freshman civics course was never ought but sheerest legalist-ical fig-leaf.
Wrong aka there RS. Nazi-ism. We’re well on our way already to sacrificing freedom to save it. 1984 says it all.
Nazi-ism with superior PR.
What China has done is weld Capitalism with Communism , something the Russians failed to do , it is without doubt the reason for China`s success .
Please elaborate.
Perhaps this is about economic motive, where profit has replaced equality as the primary goal driving business decisions?
It is not correct to call Chinese political system “communist”, though they themselves call it so. It is rather a socialist authoritarian system. Chinese leaders announced at the time of the party’s congress the plan of the development of China. They never mentioned the communism as their goal. It should be clear by now to everyone that the communist society, as it is described by Lenin, is unachievable. Bolsheviks used that fairy story for cheating people. Chinese communist party never was even Marxist.
Capital “National Socialism” as in Nazis. No real socialism to benefit the people, but fascism: government action to aid corporations.
It is already out the window and long gone! 🙁
Because wars are very profitable.
It’s Great Powers geopolitics. The US wants to maintain unipolar (US) domination of world economies and world military action. China is an economic competitor and rising military competitor. Russia is a military competitor. Europe was an economic competitor, but the Ukraine war has already wrecked Europe’s economy, so that’s one competitor removed. The US was hoping to roll over Russia and then take on China, but things have not been going according to plan with Russia. Which is now joining up with China to face down the US. Still, the plan is there and Biden is advertising it. I guess that’s his job.
Beating Russia didn’t united them good enough, let’s try the same against China. The only problem is, how to keep in line those who don’t want to be united.
That’s always been the job of the FBI.
FBI is supposed to work at home. What about the European partners?
The case of Julian Assange dramatically demonstrates the extension of the imperial Stasi State.
To me, it demonstrated rather the evil nature of American political system. Hardly anyone could expect from UK government anything else. The extension of the imperial power was demonstrated better in time of hunting Snowden when three European states closed their airspace for Bolivian presidential aircraft and forced it to ground.
I cannot argue with any of that. Thanks for reminding me.
It is extremely unfortunate for the peace needing citizens of the US that at this critical.time in human history.that.we have leaders like Biden,Obama,Trump,Mccarthy and DeSantis Cruz etc.
Such people are not leaders. They are thuggish cowards who send the children of others to die for destruction of Earth which yields them some temporary income.
How about destruction of Human Beings and infrastructure.
time to tell one of my favorite theories….the war on drugs severely limited the pool of potential politicians leaving us with an age group who either were very odd or liars.
DeSantis/Gabbard 2024!
Or Gabbard/DeSantis 2024!
One more time. DeSantis on Bolton:
“Ambassador Bolton has a keen understanding of the dangers posed to the United States ranging from North Korean aggressions to the threat of a nuclear Iran. I’m proud to stand with him in confronting these daunting challenges and wholeheartedly appreciate his support.”
There will already be two pro-war establishment tickets. What would be the need for a third?
None of the above, now and forever.
Doug MacGregor/Tulsi Gabbard 2024!
And people can say whatever they want about either of those two and it still wouldn’t matter. Compared to Biden/ Harris or Trump/Lake, they still would be soooo much better than what we are going to be stuck with.
You’re half right. Desantis likes John Bolton. Enough said.
This, after Bolton endorsed him for governor:
“Ambassador Bolton has a keen understanding of the dangers posed to the United States ranging from North Korean aggressions to the threat of a nuclear Iran. I’m proud to stand with him in confronting these daunting challenges and wholeheartedly appreciate his support.”
I also fear DeSantis will bow before the DC Ghouls! I would love to see Gabbard as Potus!
DeSantis doesn’t have to “bow before” the DC Ghouls. His picture is next to that expression in the dictionary. He’s a careerist swamp creature who’s spent basically his whole adult life on the taxpayer teat, including assisting the torture regime at Gitmo.
Thomas,,”Who Ya Gonna Call”????
At the moment, nobody. I’m in “not my circus, not my monkeys” mode. It’s a regime in permanent decline that I don’t care to endorse, and that my endorsement or non-endorsement will have zero effect on.
To me, the main difference between Trump and DeSantis is that DeSantis is more open about being a feckless thug. They both lean heavily into clown personae, but Trump usually comes off as Bozo, while DeSantis is clearly Pennywise.
Pennywise is a good way to describe deSatanis.
Is she a republican now? I can’t do R’s or D’s.
Independent.
“When little men cast long shadows the sun is about to set.”
This is typical Biden. “Biden insisted that he made clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping that he seeks “competition, not conflict.” ”
The purpose of the 25% tariffs on Chinese goods is to 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 competition. The intensive efforts to deny access to advanced equipment, such as 3 nm semiconductor printers, is obviously intended to harm China and its semiconductor industry. Biden has been on a witch hunt to deny China access to critical inputs to manufacturing processes for at least a year. And his willingness to incite war over Taiwan is a bald faced attempt to steal technology from One China.
This is why no foreign leader should be willing to trust 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Biden says about his intentions, or his willingness to abide by the rules.
“State of the Union: Biden Says Beating China Should ‘Unite All of Us’ The speech focused very little on foreign policy and barely mentioned the war in Ukraine”
Joey Biden is correct many Americans are united against this fool Joey Biden!
State of the Union: Biden Says China Already Beaten Us
Always be wary of leaders who say that war somehow unites people.
Even in their wildest dreams, it’s unlikely that either Beijing or Moscow would have ever believed
it possible that such useless morons as Biden and his incompetent fools, could ever be in the White House.
A lightweight coward such as Biden can make blowhard comments all he wants. In reality, it changes nothing.
The truth is that Washington no longer projects prestige, deterrence or fear. It’s a corrupt joke, a ridiculous place that deserves nothing but ridicule. Both Russia and China can do whatever they want, as can the Saudis and even Tehran, knowing full well that a broken Washington will do nothing meaningful to stop them.
They’re making hay while the sun shines. Who can blame them?
“Both Russia and China can do whatever they want, as can the Saudis and even Tehran, knowing full well that a broken Washington will do nothing meaningful to stop them.”
So, what should Washington be doing differently? More belligerence?
The point is that America has lost its ability to deter and project power.
For example, before Biden the Saudis would never have publicly ridiculed a POTUS, traded oil in other currencies, let alone signalled a pivot to China and Russia by joining BRICS.
It’s doubtful that Putin would have invaded Ukraine, before Biden.
I can’t imagine that India and China would openly defy the US sanctions package on Russia, either.
That’s just a few examples. They’re doing it because they can do it, knowing that there will not be any meaningful consequences from the United States.
The US has lost legitimacy and respect in the eyes of it’s so-called adversaries. None of these powers take Biden, Blinken, Jake Sullivan (who is way out if his depth) seriously – and let’s face it, why would they? These are deeply corrupt, unimpressive individuals. Tens of millions of Americans believe , based on credible evidence, that they are only in power because of a rigged election anyway.
“It’s doubtful that Putin would have invaded Ukraine, before Biden.”
Why? Would Putin have been too afraid of Trump? How was Trump, or anyone else, going to stop him? Do you actually think our state department, led by Pompeo. was willing to meet Russia’s pre-invasion demands? The US wanted Russia to invade and has been pushing for it for years, including before Biden.
Putin saw Trump as someone who might be able to change things in Washington, and perhaps alleviate tensions in Ukraine.
After all, Trump demanded that Ukraine co-operate with America to clarify corruption allegations against Obama and Biden vis a vis Ukraine. Trump also withheld ‘military aid’ to Kiev. In 2016/17 the EU doubled US military aid to Ukraine. The corrupt scum who are now running America, tried to get Trump impeached for it.
The Kremlin was also deterred by Trump’s administration. People forget that under Trump, the Americans gave Russia a bloody nose in Syria (Deir el Zoor) in early 2018. This included Wagner forces. It was easily the most significant military blow ever delivered by America to Russia, and a clear shot across the bow.
When they met in July 2018 and with deterrence in place, Trump publicly repudiated the BS Russiagate lie with Putin present. That was smart. He also met with Putin several times afterwards in 2018/2019, and both admitted that a respect had grown between the two leaders. Again, progress.
On balance, Putin – who is a very patient and cautious man – would have likely calculated that waiting to see if Trump was re-elected (Trump would have cleaned out Zelensky etc if he was still POTUS) was on balance, preferable to an incursion into Ukraine.
We all know what happened – either the Americans voted Trump out en masse and chose Joe Biden (if true, shows you how dumb most Americans truly are), or the 2020 election was rigged by the same scum who had always been – and still are – terrified of Trump l(more likely). Either way, Putin’s calculations likely immediately changed once he observed Obama (sorry, Biden) and his moronic team taking over in DC again.
I think even Putin would have been surprised at how disastrous Biden is. It has been one debacle after another, with highly inflammatory talk and threats towards Russia, and the nutcase neocons back in the ascendancy.
By 2022, the American military – which was on the way back big time under Trump – had been greatly weakened under Biden. In 2023, it remains a hollow and ineffective force, incapable of matching Russia or China for much longer than a few weeks.
The Kremlin would have also observed Ukrainian forces massing in the Donbass (which recommenced in earnest almost as soon as Biden was inaugurated, in early 2021). The shelling of Donbass by Ukrainian forces (in breach of Minsk) started again in 2020 and became very intense in 2021/early 2022.
Putin would have correctly concluded that the Ukrainians were going to attack Donbass and if successful, likely move on Crimea. As a result, he ordered the special military operation in Ukraine and the rest, as they say, is history.
Less belligerence and more rebuilding our nation.
The problem is that Americans hate and fear each other too much to successfully rebuild.
However, hate is expensive. And hatred of others syncs nicely with internal hatred to maximize the damage each causes.
To me, a central issue, perhaps the central issue, is the fact that the vast majority of the American public, believing as they do in “American exceptionalism”, are going to take a very, very long time, perhaps several generations, to come to grips with the fact that they are no longer “The Big Dog” bravely guarding “The City on the Hill”.
If the American people could come to that realization sooner — the sooner the better — and acquire some actual influence with the leadership in Washington, the US government might be persuaded to adopt a more rational approach to the US role in the world.
That’s a big if and in my opinion not likely to happen.
But just the same, let’s work with this hypothetical and imagine that it came to pass. What then would be a rational approach going forward, a rational approach to America’s role in the world?
Here’s my take:
Military strength follows economic strength. China on the rise and the US in decline suggests a future dominated militarily by China. That is, If nothing is done to change the equation.
Standing then, at this inflection point of history, what could be done to change the equation?
My suggestion aligns perfectly — and I would suggest logically — with the founding principle of Antiwar.com:
The time has come — at last — to recognize the monstrous, ridiculous, suicidal destructive power of human weaponry and to therefore join with the world in a commitment — finally — to renounce and abandon the millennia-long practice of national (ie tribal) dominance through force and violence. To finally put an end to war.
Put simply, let’s take this moment and the opportunity it presents (compels?), to dissuade China from the geostrategic necessity of becoming the global hegemon and turning the United States into its bitch.
However as I wrote earlier, the American public is incapable of standing down anytime soon from its “America, fuck yeah!” attitude. So this hopeful hypothetical is little more than a fanciful notion.
A more likely fate: a group of irradiated “zombies” sitting around a camp fire amidst the ruins of their “City on the Hill” gnawing on the juicy thigh bone of one of the millions of the more “fortunate” dead recently barbecued by the nuclear flash.
Being an old Boomer already on the brink of the abyss conveys a certain dark “benefit”. One might call it the silver lining to the mushroom cloud. A long, fulfilling life, abundant with joy, redolent with adventure, fascinated by the spectacle, and lived complacently to its fullest, drinking it all in, every allotted second, to the very last drop … right up to the actuarial’s predicted end … and thus having nothing left to lose.
Good luck to you all.
“…winning the ‘competition’ with Beijing should ‘unite all of us.’” We would also be all united in death. Pass the Kool-Aid uncle Joe.
The specter of rising Chinese power and falling US power is the eternal hegemonic struggle of empires, but with one important difference: this is WW III, with no victor and only mutual defeat.
https://patternofhistory.wordpress.com/
balloon bravado
Two countries stand in the way of US full spectrum dominance , Russia / China , the Ukrainian war is to weaken the Russia military and Economy so Russia could not fight another war , then i have no doubt the plan is to have another proxy war With China for the same reasons , the only way to stop the Americans and their war mongering is to replace the USD as the Worlds reserve currency .
Mr President, I’d rather conduct mutually beneficial trade with China, instead of sacrificing my treasure so you can destroy them for your own nefarious reasons.
Or to paraphrase Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, “China es schtank”. And hate is expensive. 4% of humanity trying to hold back 18% of humanity while the remaining 78% pursues its own interest is not a good business model for the 4%, and will only accelerate the process. I’m dubbing this the prom queen hissy fit (PQHF) effect.
lol.
Americans being led to conflict with China have no idea the austerity thats coming if it escalates. Its part of the Great Reset. The peasants will beg for austerity…to get those dastardly Chinese.
All China has to do is cut off our meds.
Beating China at WHAT?
While Amerikkka has squandered its resources engaging in continuous warfare, the Chinese government has spent its decades uplifting their own people.
The average Chinese citizen is now better off financially than its Amerikkkan counterpart.
Can’t have that; MUST DESTROY!
JoBye, the worst P.O.S Prezident we have ever had,,a nightmare of a creature!
What should ‘Unite All of Us’, domestic and foreign, the entire world; is the elimination of the US empire, before its hubristic insane actions exterminate ALL of us.
God, talking about brain-cracking insanity. Sanctions are to compete’ he seeks no conflict while doing all to provoke a conflict? Unbelievably stupid, what about his speechwriters, does he even have any?
What a bout MSM, they are telling us how great the speech was, or not?
I did not hear the speech, and I don’t read MSM print or TV.
They are mainly talking about Republican heckling, so…
China’s power is defensive in nature to guard their homeland, while ours is primarily offensive military power.
“Biden Says Beating China Should ‘Unite All of Us’”
It doesn’t.
Biden also had that weird bit in the end:
“Name me a world leader who’d change places with Xi Jinping,” Biden shouted, departing from his prepared text Tuesday night as he waved a finger. “Name me one, name me one.””
anyone know what that was about or indeed what it means? Deranged angry corn pop?
Yes, very strange, … reminiscent of the old Iowa farmer he challenged to push-ups.
JoBye,,out of his sick mind!!
But the president said he makes “no apologies” for the fact that the US was investing in “industries that will define the future, and that China’s government is intent on dominating.”
Now there’s a classic case of projection if ever there was one.
I’ve never hated a president so much. I usually try not to have a visceral reaction to politics, but he comes into a broken nation, reeling in a pandemic with a fucked healthcare system, fixes nothing, declares the pandemic over (still a 9/11 of American deaths every week), and goes right back to the Democrats hijinks of 2014, putting us on the brink of World War 3, tries to start another world war with China, then shames everyone who is not enthusiastic about killing the entire world in the name of dominating it (sorry: “winning the competition”).
I finally understand TDS.
Kind of strange. He strikes me as a very predictable empty suit just going through the motions of “being president.” The policies are basically on long-existing rails, and he’s just an old man who shakes his fist and yells every once in a while.
I’m still convinced he’s a cadaver.
He made a campaign promise in a speech – at least to his benefactors, the only ones who matter – that nothing would change if he was elected. He is not going to change a system that has propped him up for 50+ years.
Yes, he’s an empty suit, like all other Democrats. Bloodless, with no consideration for actual humanity. The face of a system, he might as well be an algorithm that chews up the green earth and humanity and deposits more zeros in the correct bank account. That’s exactly what I hate so much. Every other president was at some level human, and allowed the possibility of a human mistake erring on the side of humanity against that accursed system that’s chewing up the world and future.
He’s presiding over a nation that can’t even think. The national atmosphere is entirely “the emperor’s new clothes”, where the press and government feed us constant unbelievable lies, but questions or independent thought or principles mark people as outsiders to be silenced.
90% of Americans are essentially invisible at this point, and the bills they have passed have been sad jokes: the environmental bill was named the Inflation Reduction Act, did nothing about inflation, and mostly gave tax incentives to elite Americans to buy more shit powered by a coal fired grid he helped fuel in his next pen strokes.
So while the Climate screams past multiple tipping points, we are responding to that crisis and multiple others by suddenly pretending that national sovereignty is a primary consideration – ending a 20 year occupation just in time to feign sincerity before starting a proxy war with a nuclear armed nation.
All the predictions from 2014 that forsaw just this debacle in our moves on Ukraine at that time have been memory holed, and polite America and every media outlet is neck deep in false piety to self government that they happily trashed for decades after 9/11 so we could flatten imaginary monsters in Iraq.
Trump was a clown, this is a constant creep of fascism: censorship, constant war, no consent even asked from the governed – we’ll just pretend the FBI mediated social media cheerleading counts as such.
Trump should not be our basis of comparison, but goddamn it, he didn’t get us involved in a new world war.
Well said,The truth is that no politician has the.balls to stand alone against the power and military and the aggressions of the leader of our doomed society and culture.
Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations unite us. Entangling alliances and “competition” with enemies divide us, and Biden is a divider.
He has lots of help from all the neocons around him to make enemies. But he keeps telling himself they are all his friends out there, they love him, no matter how much extortion and arm twisting it takes to make them cry UNCLE.
Whatever is said tonight will not even be relevant when the world wakes up to the Seymore Hersh scoop, about how Biden blew the Nordstreams. And I’m sure Ukraine will rue the day this cat got out of the bag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t know if Biden or the like-minded know, all the technology sanctions on China does is to make it totally technology-independent from the U.S. sometime later. In the end U.S. will lose most business and profits they have been making in China. So, what is the point?!