Team Biden Outmaneuvered by China?

by Eric Rozenman
July 30, 2023 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19839/china-outmaneuvered-biden

U.S. policy toward China appears to be suffering from a belief in magic – that, for instance, withdrawing from Afghanistan would be a great idea; that Putin would be happy with a "minor incursion" into Ukraine; that the Chinese spy balloon was "silly;" that the mission of education and the military should be to ensure "equity," leading one veteran to say that the US is "trying to out-pronoun our enemies;" and that America's southern border, with agents trying to process reportedly 8,000 illegal migrants each day, thereby leaving vast swaths of land open to traffickers, smugglers and terrorists, is "secure."
Regrettably, the Biden Administration seems to be letting itself be outmaneuvered in countering the imminent threat of war posed by China's leader Xi Jinping and his ruling Communist Party.
Blinken swallowed the airport insult and met anyway with, among others, his Chinese counterpart and Xi himself. They held what the State Department called "a productive conversation, a real exchange." Chinese officials likewise said the talks were "candid, in-depth and constructive." Oh good! Then we have nothing to worry about!
At home, Xi has continued to tighten party control over the economy even as economic growth has faltered and unemployment climbed. Why pursue antagonistic policies abroad and counter-productive ones at home?
Xi's objectives are not economic growth or good relations but rather to insulate China from outside sanctions and other pressure like that, orchestrated by the United States and NATO against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. — J. Kyle Bass, founder of Texas-based Hayman Capital Management, July 12, 2023.
"The day Yellen landed in China, Xi told the Eastern Military Command to prepare for war. I think it's highly likely he invades Taiwan." Not by 2027, as estimated by U.S. intelligence, but "in 12 to 18 months." — J. Kyle Bass, July 12, 2023.

U.S. policy toward China appears to be suffering from a belief in magic – that, for instance, withdrawing from Afghanistan would be a great idea; that Putin would be happy with a "minor incursion" into Ukraine; that the Chinese spy balloon was "silly;" that the mission of education and the military should be to ensure "equity," leading one veteran to say that the US is "trying to out-pronoun our enemies;" and that America's southern border, with agents trying to process reportedly 8,000 illegal migrants each day, thereby leaving vast swaths of land open to traffickers, smugglers and terrorists, is "secure."

Regrettably, the Biden Administration seems to be letting itself be outmaneuvered in countering the imminent threat of war posed by China's leader Xi Jinping and his ruling Communist Party.

Three cases in point:

John Kerry, Biden's climate envoy, landing in China in mid-July, declared that the country was doing an "incredible job" developing renewable energy sources. He also asked it to reduce its world-leading coal-fired electricity production.

Not exactly likely. On January 24 2022, the Chinese ruler told party leaders that carbon goals should not undermine energy or food supplies. China opens two new coal-fired generating plants a week, according to multiple reports.

Then there was Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China in June. Even before Blinken could deplane, Xi let Washington know who he thought was boss. When the secretary of state arrived -- for the first trip to China by a top U.S. diplomat since 2018 -- no senior Chinese official went to the airport to greet him: no red carpet, no ceremony. This non-encounter took place after Blinken's journey had been postponed following the February shoot-down of a Chinese spy balloon that had snooped its way over many of the most sensitive military installations across the United States. Blinken swallowed the airport insult and met anyway with, among others, his Chinese counterpart and Xi himself. They held what the State Department called "a productive conversation, a real exchange." Chinese officials likewise said the talks were "candid, in-depth and constructive." Good, so we have nothing to worry about!

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen apparently thought so too. When she arrived on her pilgrimage ahead of Kerry in July, she actually bowed repeatedly, as Fox News showed—in the Chinese fashion of an inferior kowtowing to a superior—three times, "optics the Chinese love," before Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Doing business

"Criticism of Yellen's apparent obsequiousness, was 'just noise'", Mary Lovely of the Washington, D.C.-based Petersen Institute for International Economics told Bloomberg News. The treasury secretary went to Beijing "to do business" and put guardrails up to decrease tensions and "manage" U.S.-China relations.

What have Xi and his hand-picked team atop the party-government pyramid been doing to install guardrails and manage the critical relationship? Here are a few recent illustrations:

The Wall Street Journal revealed that China uses Cuba for extensive surveillance of the United States and military training. Miles Yu, who was China policy advisor to then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, wrote in a June 29 Wall Street Journal op-ed that "China's spying installations and military training in Cuba reflect the Communist Party's plans for global dominance";
China maintains "police stations" in at least 53 countries around the world — as well as in Manhattan — from which, according to reports, to intimidate expatriate dissidents and others, and threatening them with "arrest" -- meaning kidnapping and imprisonment in a Chinese gulag;
Former Canadian Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole, in a speech to Parliament, said he had been told that Beijing used proxy agents to spread disinformation about his party via the Chinese-operated WeChat instant messaging service. This followed similar charges by parliamentarian Michael Chong;
The Chinese Communist Party hacked the e-mails of senior U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo before her planned trip to China.
Beijing decided early in July to restrict exports of germanium and gallium, key elements in semi-conductors and missile systems. China retaliated against U.S. trade restrictions, citing "national security" .

Xi's real purpose

At home, Xi has continued to tighten party control over the economy even as economic growth has faltered and unemployment climbed. Why pursue antagonistic policies abroad and counter-productive ones at home?

J. Kyle Bass, founder of the Texas-based hedge fund Hayman Capital Management, thinks it is due to China's vulnerability to petroleum and liquid national gas sanctions. Bass said on July 12 that Xi's objectives are not economic growth or good relations but rather to insulate China from outside sanctions and other pressure like that, orchestrated by the United States and NATO against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

According to Bass, in 2020, China possessed 100 intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, and last year, the tally reached 450. This year, he said, Fujian province, opposite Taiwan, opened 18 new air raid shelters, a major military hospital and conducted a large-scale blood drive.

Holding U.S. dollars, China "should be buying short-term Treasury notes," Bass stressed. Instead, "the curve is going in the opposite direction." Beijing is building its gold reserves.

"The day Yellen landed in China, Xi told the Eastern Military Command to prepare for war. I think it is highly likely he invades Taiwan," Bass said. Not by 2027, as estimated by U.S. intelligence, but "in 12 to 18 months."

Bass said he believes the United States and its allies can prevail against China in a conflict over Taiwan and its democratically-governed 24 million people, but only if everything needed for defense "is on the island on day one."

Also, it must be added, only after American leaders drop their belief in magic and speak realistically to the public.

Eric Rozenman is communications consultant for the Jewish Policy Center. Any opinions expressed above are solely his own.

© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Related Topics: China

Recent Articles by Eric Rozenman

The Green New Deal: Poverty for Everyone!, 2019-08-05

receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free gatestone institute mailing list.

Comment on this item

18 Reader Comments

Surdey Germain • Jul 30, 2023 at 23:44

Coming from where it comes, the article of Mr Rozenman is the perfect description of what is really happening and of what will happen soon.
And it is also the perfect and correct description if Biden s totally inept government. He and Blinken and Yellen are all good for nothing, dreamers at best but rather really stupid individuals.
You should send them home ASAP. But I am afraid it is already too late.

Reply->

Sandra Smith

Surdey Germain • Aug 1, 2023 at 15:38

It is too late. But it would make no appreciable difference in any case, since they are just puppets for the real gov't. They are the gov't Yhwh God gave us, which America deserves. At present, His plan is unfolding, somewhat less flamboyantly than that of Satan, but undeterred, none-the-less. It will proceed to the prophesied conclusion now

Reply->

af • Jul 30, 2023 at 15:39

Despite all the hosannas of praise that our leadership contain to lay on the heads of the American people, those who know hardly any of what was said by Mr. Rozenman are few and far between. I'd think that what China is doing and planning will be a vast surprise to vast numbers of Americans.

Reply->

Ronnie • Jul 30, 2023 at 15:14

As a commenter, I can afford to say that one who has proven a propensity for global bribes, can't be trusted to defend against the favourite donor.

Reply->

GSR • Jul 30, 2023 at 14:48

Obama/Biden successfully turned the American armed forces into a gay to feminized, trans citadel of wasted time and money, pandering to unqualified persons.

Reply->

C R • Jul 30, 2023 at 13:29

Outmaneuvered? Or is Papa Joe merely doing exactly what his paymasters ordered? Those $multi-million payoffs aren't just an expression of friendship.

Reply->

Sandra Smith

C R • Aug 1, 2023 at 15:41

Precisely!

Reply->

Steven • Jul 30, 2023 at 13:05

Rather than magic, it's a policy of appeasement, the Neville Chamberlain strategy of appeasing Hitler in hopes of averting war with Hitler.
There may have been a play for time by Chamberlain to allow UK and the British empire to rearm and be able to take on Germany at more even terms, however, in all probability, probably Chamberlain drastically misread Hitler and his intention to go to war.
Probably, rather than listening to the US intelligence services, which are predicting that China won't invade Taiwan until 2027, the timetable as laid out by Xi to his military (prepare for war), and the Chinese people means we're out of time, and invasion can be expected anytime.
Is the Biden Administration compromised?
The recent court hearing for Hunter Biden with pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and a diversion program for owning a firearm while addicted would suggest so, the fifteenth paragraph of the diversion agreement raising the attention of the judge that additional investigation of foreign agent activities could bring additional charges in the future.

Reply->

dukeinva • Jul 30, 2023 at 09:59

My best guess is Xi is waiting until November 6, 2024 to make his decision on Taiwan. America elects the right candidate (for him) and Taiwan is toast!!!

Reply->

cammo99 • Jul 30, 2023 at 06:41

For the ideology of globalism and the WE'Fers to move forward they must include China and other rogue nations like Iran, hard anti Western nations like Pakistan and even radical expressions of Islam. The assumption is that Biden was outmaneuvered? He is semi mummified not as bad as Pelosi, Feinstein, and the other relics from the DNC plus a Mitch collapse. But never underestimate Biden's greed and need to brag as a factor. Just last week he claimed inflation was coming down, we saw prices go up here. I agree with the Congressman who said of Biden's bragging about his stopping the inflationary trend, He shouldn't be bragging he should be apologizing."

Reply->

Bull Herman • Jul 30, 2023 at 05:42

Some alternative titles? "While Biden Slept" or "The Magic 8 Ball Chronicles" or "The View From Inside The Rabbit Hole" or "The Biden-Midas Touch". There could also be something created by morphing together playing chess with Taiwan the prize but that would be incomplete.
Add to this the fact that US is seriously short on munitions and that 40% of our Los Angeles attack subs (as I read this week in Gatestone) sitting in port waiting for maintenance, are like turds floating in a toilet, waiting for a nuke flush.
Add it up. Xi pulls out of Paris accords; continues to open coal fired plants. He is building up gold reserves and planning to create an alternative source of international currency. He is building 5x or more the nukes he already has. Building the spy base in Cuba. Must include the spy balloons.
He still has vulnerabilities but he can limit those by leveraging these strong points. Ultimately, he wants to make defending Taiwan to mean defending the entire Western hemisphere of the world. His audacity is aimed at taking Taiwan the same way he's squatted on all the coral reefs. Without a whisper of opposition.
Now we look even weaker. With the exception of Congressperson Kevin McCarthy the entire senior leadership is either senile/demented or broken down and at times unable to function.
But never count out What Me Worry Joe. There has to be a deep bunker somewhere, maybe linked to the funky Denver International Airport, that holds boucou chocolate chip ice cream and Depends.
The rest of US? Follow the instructions I once read on a 70's Canadian poster about what to do in case of nuclear war. The last steps were, once you witness the flash, to put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.
The worst thing about this? It's my guess, and my fear, that what really riles Biden is Xi pulling out of the Paris Accords. You know it's bad when your enemies won't even honor your most pathetic demands. And, ironically, what happens if the Left Coast of US is attacked? Leaving a disaster comparable to the Northridge quake. What will the illegals do?

Reply->

LoneStar

Bull Herman • Jul 30, 2023 at 12:05

Thank you for your super Comment. I will be sharing your "instruction" on what to do when hit by a nuclear bomb—priceless.

Reply->

Sandra Smith • Jul 30, 2023 at 05:36

China bought "Biden" long before he became "POTUS"; through it's dealings with Hunter under the then VPOTUS' nose, just as Ukraine and Russia did. They're just collecting now.

Reply->

TRM

Sandra Smith • Jul 31, 2023 at 12:31

Biden threatens repeatedly to defend Taiwan, keeps Trump's tariffs on Chinese products, puts controls on semiconductor exports to China, but he's been bought by the Chinese? Yeah, right.

Reply->

Sandra Smith

TRM • Jul 31, 2023 at 13:02

"Defend" Taiwan with WHAT, precisely? While he's sending Billions in weapons to Ukraine repeatedly, he sent Taiwan $583 Million in manuals and cyber strategies a few days ago (that's his "defense"), and our military leaders have been telling us since April our "cupboards " are nearly bare; they're not talking about surplus or extras. I know air crew chiefs have been raiding the various bone-yards for over a decade to keep our aircraft flying at all, because they weren't getting replacement parts. While Trump tried to replenish our stocks of arms and munitions, those are also gone now, mostly. As for the tariffs, they should be embargoes, but aren't. The Chinese can make their own semiconductors; they know it, and we all should too. They'd been buying up land in the US and other nations for the mineral rights to the bulk of rare Earth minerals for over 4 decades, and Clinton gave them the know-how back in the '90s, so those are essentially meaningless: Xi knows it, the administration knows it and we should know it too
Surely you didn't think they've been paying Hunter all those tens of millions monthly for HIS knowledge and expertise, since Joe was VPOTUS??? They were collecting from Russia, China, and Ukraine at least that long ago, possibly longer. So yes, the Chinese bought Biden, as did Russia and Ukraine, and now they're calling in their chips.

Reply->

TRM

Sandra Smith • Aug 1, 2023 at 12:48

So much BS, so little time.

To defend Taiwan we'd need the US Navy/Marines and the US Air Force. The weapons they'd use (cruise missiles, air-air missiles, smart bombs, mines) as a rule aren't the weapons we're sending to Ukraine.

Cannibalizing aircraft for parts has always been standard practice.

If the tariffs should have been embargoes you'd have thought Trump would have done that.

The semiconductors the Chinese can make are a couple of generations behind the cutting edge stuff, and the export controls that Biden has put in place (something Trump never did) will make it a lot harder for them to catch up.

So far it looks like the claims against the "Biden crime family" and all the money they were supposedly making are mostly Comer and Gym Jordan blowing smoke. Devon Archer was the most recent case.

Biden is doing far more damage to the Chinese than Trump ever did. Strange thing for somebody on the Chinese payroll to do.

Time to get off Trump Kool-aid and back on actually existing planet Earth.

Reply->

Sandra Smith

TRM • Aug 1, 2023 at 16:15

I know well what we'd NEED to defend Taiwan,or anyone else; my point is we do not HAVE it with which to do so!
Cannibalizing planes in war zones has been common practice because supply lines were long, while time was short; it did not us to be such in peace time in the CONUS, until recent decades.
Trump is too much a businessman, not enough a military man, and he is too much a leftist ideologically as well, having been a lifelong Democrat, as was his father, politically-speaking, right up 'til he decided to run as a Republican for POTUS.
No one was blowing smoke, except the MSM cover-ups. The only damage Biden's doing is to America and our former allies.
I drink no one's kool-aid, especially not Trump's. Neither am I blinded by the uniparty divide and conquer tactics. I knew of the Trumps when he and I were growing up on the same island as kids, due to his father's activities back then, and our local papers carried much about them, politically, socially, and in the business pages alike, and have been aar of his doings as adults as well. You and I haven't tossed trails before, so far as I'm aware, but if we had, you'd know I'm no fan of Trump, that I have criticized many of his claims and actions, since before he was elected, as well as after, and that I cautioned about him. However, since you don't know me, I'll let that slide, this time.

Reply->

TRM

Sandra Smith • Aug 2, 2023 at 12:59

Actually, as a retired military analyst, I know in detail what is required to defend Taiwan, and I'd say the odds favor us, although a lot more would be a lot better.

We do cannibalize planes in peacetime. We've always done that, not just in recent decades. Ever heard the expression 'hanger queens?'

The Republicans are still blowing smoke about Hunter B. Scott Perry is now complaining that their latest supposed star witness Archer wasn't fully revealing in his testimony. Translated to English--he didn't tell the Republicans what they wanted to hear.

Trump is too much a pathologically corrupt sociopath. If you want to talk about somebody damaging our alliances, start with him

Reply->