You're looking way past the mark. Why does Secretary of Asterisk Blinken have to meet with China, when he can use cHunter as the cut-out?
Posted on 02/02/2023 8:34:15 PM PST by FarCenter
TOKYO -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken next week signals his desire to stabilize relations with Washington as he faces economic headwinds at home.
The planned reception, first reported by the Financial Times and confirmed by U.S. sources, will likely set the tone for China's new foreign policy team -- top diplomat Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang -- as they put together their diplomacy playbook.
"If President Xi meets Secretary Blinken, it will reinforce to the Chinese government that he is personally engaged in steering the relationship and that any moves Beijing makes must be in line with his chosen direction," said Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
"Both the U.S. and China have a shared incentive to limit downside risks and demonstrate competence in managing the relationship," Hass, a former director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia at the National Security Council, said.
The two day visit, which starts Sunday, comes at a time when the relationship is in an "extraordinarily fraught state," Jude Blanchette, the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told reporters in a briefing Monday.
Overnight, Taiwan detected five People's Liberation Army aircraft entering its air defense identification zone, and the Pentagon said the U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over U.S. airspace. Last week, a U.S. Air Force general made headlines by instructing officers to prepare for a possible military conflict with China over Taiwan in 2025.
This follows various statements from U.S. military leaders that offered different timelines. Retired Adm. Philip Davidson, the former head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated to Nikkei last week that he remains concerned that "the period between now and 2027" is a window in which China may use force against Taiwan
Regarding the different timelines, Blanchette said, "What we're effectively signaling is we have no idea, and I'm not sure we understand just how damaging that is."
The White House's goal, regarding Blinken's trip to Beijing, "is to basically fast-forward this Cold War to its detente phase, thereby skipping a Cuban Missile Crisis," Blanchette said.
Xi Jinping’s expected meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken next week signals his desire to stabilize relations.
Look out the frog is in the water and the spider invites the fly to his home.
I thought I heard blinker postponed the trip because of the balloon.
You're looking way past the mark. Why does Secretary of Asterisk Blinken have to meet with China, when he can use cHunter as the cut-out?
Not sure a lot of D.C. confusion going on now to many things going on to filter out for the tribe.
Liberals claim the Chinese spy balloon was just a bunch of hot air.
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