Once Again, Biden Fails To Stand Up To China
Last week, President Biden held a virtual summit with President Xi Jinping of China. The purpose of the talks, according to Team Biden, was to “ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.” Unfortunately for America, China utilized the meeting to continue to bully the Biden Administration, as it has done since Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, who support the genocide of the Uyghur population and the undermining of fundamental rights throughout China and elsewhere, dared to accuse the United States of “condescension and hypocrisy” in Anchorage back in March of this year.
President Biden’s conversation with Xi did not go any better than the failed Anchorage talks. First, Biden failed to press Xi for a more thorough investigation into the causes of the coronavirus pandemic and did not demand accountability for the spread of the deadly virus, which has to this point killed over 5 million people globally and devastated our economy. To not bring up this critical point was inexcusable and a sign of incredible weakness on the part of President Biden. (That is why the ACLJ is engaged in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Biden Administration over stonewalling actual investigations into the origins of the global pandemic.)
Even on notable subjects that were discussed, President Biden failed to hold Xi accountable. President Biden had no agenda to hold China accountable for the Xinjiang genocide, the Hong Kong abomination, Taiwanese intimidation, sweeping intellectual property rights theft, global predatory trade and economic activities, and bellicose military postures. While the President may have offered impotent verbal protests to Xi over some of these topics, it amounts to little more than talk without the backing of strong action to deter or hold the Chinese accountable for their predatory actions. On this score, the Biden Administration has been an absolute failure.
The reason for this continued failure is simple: Team Biden refuses to see China in the same way Xi and the Chinese Communist Party view the United States: as an adversary. President Biden would rather view China through the naïve lens of "competitor." Make no mistake, a country that is building its nuclear capabilities, enlarging its military, and increasing its military research and development on the scale of China, in addition to having committed acts of espionage toward the American economy, is not a competitor; they are an adversary with which to be reckoned.
Gifting Xi a friendly White House call in search of ever-elusive “cooperation” is beyond naïve. It is a dangerously foolish mistake that the Biden Administration seems committed to making. Rather than realize that China is intent on treating us as an adversary, the Biden Administration still feels that more engagement with China, through its stated strategy of “relentless diplomacy,” is clearly the way to forestall Chinese aggression toward our allies and partners. While engagement is welcome, it must necessarily be backed up by a strong America that is willing to support its words with actions. If America instead decides to accommodate rogue actors in an attempt to maintain such engagement, that strategy is nothing more than appeasement. Such policies have always ended badly.
In the Trump Administration, we understood that appeasing adversaries – whether it was the Iranians, Russians, or the Chinese – would lead to outcomes detrimental to the safety and security of Americans. That’s why we dealt with them from a position of strength; and in doing so, we were able to secure a safer, more peaceful world and better outcomes for the American people.
If what we say is only meant for press releases, if it is accompanied by weak actions or none at all, this will only encourage China to further instigate and escalate. President Biden’s summit only served to galvanize the CCP’s aggressive posture, and this undoubtedly makes the world less safe and undermines our credibility as a force for good around the globe.
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