Several media outlets have reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month amid soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Blinken abruptly canceled a planned trip to China in February over the Chinese balloon that wound up over US territory due to unexpected weather. After canceling the trip and the US shooting down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina, the Biden administration struggled to reschedule the visit.
But recently, high-level dialogue between the US and China has resumed, although not between military officials, as the US has refused to lift sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu. China declined a meeting between Li and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La Dialogue that was held in Singapore from June 2-4 due to the US refusal.
CIA Director William Burns made a secret trip to China last month, making him the highest-level Biden administration official to visit the country. Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant US secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was in China on Monday and, according to the Chinese side, held “candid, constructive and fruitful” discussions with his Chinese counterparts.
While the two sides are making an effort to hold talks, the Biden administration has shown no sign of backing down on its hardline China policies, which involve harsh economic sanctions, increasing support for Taiwan, and explicitly preparing for a future war with Beijing. Adm. John Aquilino, the head of US Indo-Pacific Command, said last month that he was ordered to be ready to fight and win a conflict with China.
“What I can tell you is the secretary, and the president have tasked me with two missions. The first is to prevent this conflict. And then the second one is if I fail at Mission One to be ready and prepared to fight and win… the United States military is manned, trained, equipped, postured and ready to execute both of those missions,” he said.
Blinking and Bye-Done, what a team!
Blinken is not welcome in China…! He should visit China Town in DC and Order dim sum instead…!
I suspect you’re right. China has played the “lift the sanctions on Li” card. They wouldn’t have played it if they didn’t mean it.
“What I can tell you is the secretary, and the president have tasked me with two missions. The first is to prevent this conflict. And then the second one is if I fail at Mission One to be ready and prepared to fight and win… the United States military is manned, trained, equipped, postured and ready to execute both of those missions.”
Our military is so filled to the brim with insane echo chamber hawks it’s a wonder we haven’t gotten into more conflicts. Traditionally, the presidency has exerted some influence to tame the hawks, but when the presidency is controlled by hawks…you get these insane statements as if it’ll be just a nice walk in the park to get into a war with China, a war that will likely destroy the world ecologically and economically.
China should publish the verbatim transcript.
Blinken cancelled a trip to China over the balloon incident
so all anyone has to do is send a flock of weather balloons in our direction and they would never have to be bothered by Blinken
If this is like any other one they’ve already agreed to most of whatever they will tell us at the end of the meeting and the meeting will decide the “voice” that they share it to us in.
Will it be bellicose?
Perhaps China’s “voice” will be some of that wonderful flowery stuff that China loves to share….while they knife us with the inbetween the lines stuff?
Will we be whiney?
Perhaps we will be John Wayne/Ronnie Raygun tough and make them laugh at us in return?
Blinky just does not inspire confindence other than he will make a mess but won’t even know that he did
Dear China – Please keep him.
lol!
Heck yes. He can put together Apple products.
I recommend China step a little further from Russia’s protection. How? Sail two of the strongest warships on Earth looping around Hawaii and then on to Seattle and down the west coast of the Americas. I believe they are 57-A class. Cut through the Santa Barbara channel and on the mainland side of Catalina, Rest and refuel at Ensenada for shore leave.
Continue on south to Manzanillo, Mexico’s important Pacific port. Drop off a large and affordable air defense system with trainers, a sales contract for more, and a license for production by Mexicans.
Sail on down the coast making new acquaintances.
Shore leave in Managua, and a bit of lawfare near the border pf Chile and Peru; Puerto Grau. A fully equipped special roving ambassador with a phalanx of Harvard educated lawyers lands looking for repair parts being delivered by Bolivia. One crew member needs medicine shipped into the port. Bolivia sends an ambassador and the show begins. Bolivia quickly gets an air defense deal just like Mexico did, except Bolivia gets two installations; one for the capitol and one for the port… At that point the Bolivian army shows up and the Chinese lawyers offer to stay behind with some marines and mediate after the ship is repaired and goes home. The Chinese ambassadors to Peru and Chile will be able to help as well.
A second fleet illustrates the extreme emergency of global climate collapse by cooperating with Russian Ice breakers and using a summer arctic route to travel down the East coast of the Americas. This will show the rules based order of Nature which US and Nato oligarchs choose to ignore. Affordable air defense batteries and trainers left off in Caracas, Venezuela, Port Santa Maria in Columbia, and Vera Cruz, Mexico. The second fleet hurries home through the Panama Canal before North American war mongers clamoring for WW3 get their wish.
They’ve already sailed closer to the US coast than Catalina.
US reaction: Big yawn, “that’s OK.”
Was it the Aleutians?
Yes, it was the Aleutians.
But wouldn’t it have been quicker just to click on the fucking link?
Almost eight years ago when the ratcheting up of the tensions wasn’t at this level and Taiwan (and the US) was satisfied with the status quo regarding One China doctrine.
Nothing’s changed with the “One China doctrine” since 1979.
Throughout that time, per the Taiwan Relations Act and the “Six Assurances,” the US “One China” position has been that it “acknowledges” that the People’s Republic of China regards Taiwan as one of its provinces, but that it’s still going to trade with Taiwan, including supplying arms, as it damn well pleases.
I think China is better off by avoiding provocations that will undoubtedly be used by US warmongers in the Biden Administration to fuel more antipathy towards them among the American public. Their best bet, according to some analysts, is to remain calm until they have sufficient power in their home oceans to give pause to anybody who thinks anyone could “win” such a confrontation.
Yes, yet I wonder if Russia can hold off the US and NATO alone. I remember reading about the Chinese cruising around near the Aleutians and I liked the time Russia flew nonstop to Venezuela, where more people could see. My impression is when the US finally prods humanity into ww3, navies will not dare proximity to Iran, Russia or China. We saw what happened to the Russia missile cruiser in the Black Sea.
The US has been at war all my life. I don’t think I am any more disgusted by it than many millions of people all around the world.
America will lose big time with a war with China , even with it`s LACKEYS in NATO on board .
Neocons like Blinken never negotiate. Their MO is bluff and baloney. Those are nice words for deception and subterfuge. The Chinese will just smile and shake their heads as they know that all of our wars in the past 80 years have been wars of aggression all gussied up as being defensive. The rest of the world is well aware that this is the case.