China is testing President Biden
With the most aggressive action against Taiwan yet
How will the Biden Administration Handle China?
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
This episode is sponsored by Surfshark Alert.
It helps detect if your private information has been leaked online, or is part of a data
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So, just days into Biden’s Presidency, the Chinese Communist Party issued its first military
challenge—by flying warplanes close to Taiwan.
Just a few days after US President Joe Biden took office, Washington and Beijing are battling
in a show of force in the South China Sea, following reports from Taiwan of a large incursion
of Chinese warplanes for the second straight day.
This weekend marked an escalation.
China dispatched fighters and bombers, rather than reconnaissance aircraft, as had generally
been the case.
This was a major challenge to Biden by the Communist Party.
It comes after the Trump Administration offered unprecedented US support for Taiwan,
from weapons sales
to high level diplomatic visits.
Pompeo even reframed the entire US Taiwan relationship.
But was it really a trap for Biden?
In a sense, yes.
The Trump Administration basically put Biden in a position where he either carries on US
support for Taiwan, angering Chinese leaders, or he changes course, and sends out signals
he’s going soft on the Chinese Communist Party.
The Biden Administration started with an important foreign policy signal by inviting Taiwan’s
de facto ambassador to the US to President Biden’s inauguration.
It was the first time that a Taiwanese official had attended an inauguration since 1979.
The Chinese Communist Party also tested Biden almost immediately with their aircraft incursions
over Taiwan.
And in response to the Chinese aircraft incursion, Biden’s State Department said, “Our commitment
to Taiwan is rock-solid.”
And also this:
A U.S. aircraft carrier group has entered the South China Sea, the U.S. military said
on Sunday...
The carriers entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large
incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air space in the vicinity of the
Pratas Islands.
This comes after more than a year of the Chinese military ramping up pressure on Taiwan.
“Chinese jets violated Taiwan’s airspace about 380 times in 2020 and have continued
to carry out such incursions on a nearly daily basis this year, according to Taiwan’s Ministry
of National Defense.”
We did an episode a few weeks ago about how these incursions are part of the Communist
Party’s “gray zone” war tactics against Taiwan.
Those are tactics designed to exhaust the Taiwanese military and make it harder for
Taiwan to defend itself against the Chinese Communist Party.
According to a former Pentagon policy chief, Taiwan will be a flashpoint for the Biden
Administration.
Will the Biden administration continue to stand up for Taiwan?
I hope so.
Because if Taiwan falls, where else am I going to get those tasty little pineapple cakes?
Meanwhile, China’s Communist leader Xi Jinping spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Where he called for unity.
And global cooperation.
Because if we don’t cooperate, there could be a new cold war.
Of course, we’re already in a new cold war, one that the Chinese Communist Party started.
But that’s not the point.
The point, according to Xi’s speech, is that we should “all join hands and let multilateralism
light our way toward a community with a shared future for mankind.”
That’s exactly the kind of message that the World Economic Forum eats right up.
And it really worked last time Xi gave a similar speech at Davos, back in 2017.
But now it’s 2021.
And no one can join hands to do anything anymore, because of the coronavirus.
Which initially spread around the world thanks to a coverup by the Chinese Communist Party.
So while Xi Jinping used all of the right words at Davos, where people love to talk
about how great multilateralism and global cooperation are, people are a little more
skeptical this time.
And they should be.
Because “Xi essentially proposed a multilateralism with Chinese characteristics—designed to
ensure that international interactions be conducted in accordance with China’s perspectives.”
Basically, Xi Jinping’s message was that China is strong, and the rest of the world
had better cooperate.
Which is also what he said back in 2017, but the rest of the world might actually be listening
now.
Speaking of Xi Jinping’s speech at Davos back in 2017, guess who was listening in the
audience?
Then Vice-President Joe Biden!
Back in 2017, Xi might have still called Biden an “old friend” as he did in 2013.
But are they still old friends in 2021?
Well, the Chinese Communist Party hopes so.
They’re using diplomatic back channels to push for a high-level meeting to ease tensions
with the US.
They’re offering to cooperate with the US on issues like climate change and the coronavirus
pandemic.
So where does the Biden Administration stand on this?
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said that it’s possible the US and China could
cooperate on issues like climate change.
Although he also reaffirmed that he believed that China is committing genocide against
the Uyghurs.
So, kind of mixed messages there.
Meanwhile, the Biden Administration has signaled that they’re in no rush to meet with Chinese
officials.
At a press briefing over the weekend, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced
the Biden Administration China policy— “strategic patience.”
I can hear Xi Jinping trembling.
Patiently.
If strategic patience isn’t entirely reassuring to America’s allies in Asia, the new U.S.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did reaffirm the US commitment to Japan to defend islands
disputed with China.
In Japanese, these are called the Senkaku Islands.
And if the US doesn’t defend its allies from the Chinese Communist Party, those alliances
amount to Sen-kaka.
The Biden Administration is also under pressure from Republican lawmakers to maintain a tough
on China approach.
Senators Marco Rubio, Ben Sasse, Tom Cotton, and Mitt Romney even wrote a letter to Biden’s
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen to do just that.
The letter says, “As a key advisor to President Biden on national security issues that involve
the most powerful and sophisticated tools of economic statecraft, it is critical that
you demonstrate to Congress that your decisions will be informed by a clear-eyed view of the
threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the United States.”
This comes after Yellen’s opening statement at a confirmation hearing before the Senate
Finance Committee.
She did not mention China or the Chinese Communist Party.
Republicans and Democrats then challenged her on China.
She said the Biden Administration will address China’s “illegal, unfair and abusive”
practices.
And said, “China is clearly our most important strategic competitor.”
So in addition to strategic patience, the Biden Administration seems to be carrying
on the Trump Administration's designation of China as a strategic competitor.
Under Obama, China had been called a strategic partner.
Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also called
on Biden to stick to his promises to be tough on Chinese social media companies like TikTok.
Biden did agree with the Trump Administration that TikTok was a genuine concern.
So basically, between Chinese military incursions in Taiwan and Republican pressure at home,
everyone wants to see how Biden handles China.
So far, so good.
But really, President Biden should just come on China Uncensored and make his stance known.
The Philippines are protesting a new Chinese law they’re calling a verbal threat of war.
“China’s Coast Guard Law, which was passed on Friday, empowers the force to ‘take all
necessary measures, including the use of weapons, when national sovereignty, sovereign rights,
and jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organizations or individuals
at sea.’”
So... now the Chinese Coast Guard can just shoot or capture foreign ships in disputed
waters.
Which sounds pretty scary, since the Philippines and China have a lot of disputed waters.
But has the Philippines tried strategic patience?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the South China Sea is about to need a whole
lot more patience.
And possibly more US aircraft carriers.
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Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.