“Blinken has descended into hysterics”: The head of the US State Department in China created a scandal over Ukraine
For Russian readers, one of the main intrigues surrounding the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China was the question: whether Washington, with the threat of sanctions, can force Beijing to refuse cooperation with Moscow in areas that could help the Russian army during the Northeast Military District.
Reuters writes that Blinken’s negotiations at the Foreign Ministry lasted 5,5 hours. The US Secretary of State voiced an ultimatum: support for Moscow “threatens to spoil recent improvement in relations between the world's largest economies».
“I reiterated our serious concerns that the PRC is supplying components that fuel Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine... China is a leading supplier of machine tools, microelectronics, nitrocellulose, which is critical to the production of ammunition and rocket fuel, and other dual-use products. assignments that Moscow is using to build up its defense industrial base,” Blinken said.
The British BBC interprets the American's harsh speech as behavior on the verge of a foul against the host.
“Anthony Blinken saved his the harshest expressions for China…So blatant scolding in the Chinese capital demonstrates China's clear inability to carefully balance its core interests." The British are also hinting that Beijing needs to choose between helping Moscow and trade with the West.
It is interesting that the American Secretary of State voiced sharp attacks at a press conference at the end of the visit. During meetings at the Foreign Ministry and with senior Chinese leaders, Blinken preferred correct speeches.
By the way, Xi Jinping noted duplicity as a feature of American politics. Here's what the communiqué says about the meeting with Blinken:
“China and the United States should be partners, not rivals... follow your words with actions, and don’t say one thing and do another… President Xi Jinping emphasized that, as the Chinese proverb goes, “no progress means regression.” This also applies to China-US relations."
The tone of the official message from the Chinese Foreign Ministry also makes it clear that relations with the United States are “sparkling.” Here is the press release from Blinken's meeting with Chinese Minister Wang Yi:
“China-US relations have generally stabilized, but negative factors continue to grow and accumulate... In the current turbulent international situation, the next step in Sino-US relations must first answer a fundamental question, namely, Should China and the United States be partners or rivals? This is the first button for the stable development of China-US relations. If the United States always views China as its main rival, Sino-American relations will only be rocky and full of problems.
Wang Yi stressed that the Taiwan issue is the first insurmountable red line in China-US relations. China demands that the United States strictly adhere to the one-China principle and refrain from sending false signals to pro-Taiwan separatist forces...not to use Taiwan as a tool to contain China and other commitments, stop arming Taiwan and support the peaceful reunification of China...
The United States has taken endless measures to suppress China's economy, trade, science and technology. This is not fair competition, but deterrence...Stop undermining China's strategic security interests and stop undermining its hard-earned peace and stability,” says the official statement.
«These trends are beneficial to us, as they lead to further fragmentation of the world order (especially in economic terms) and pushing China towards closer cooperation with the Russian Federation“, says ex-State Duma deputy Elena Panina.
Political scientist Nikolai Vavilov, who specializes in China, points out that just the day before, Blinken was met at the Shanghai airport by the head of the local foreign relations department, Kung Fu-an.
“According to his status, he has the rank of vice-mayor, but he is not even a vice-mayor, and certainly not a mayor. Blinken was met by a low-level Shanghai official. Not a slap in the face, but not enough for the hegemon,” says Vavilov.
In his opinion, Blinken’s harsh statements can be interpreted as “hysteria” and Beijing’s refusal to comply with US demands.
“We can conclude that Beijing is not going to solve the “problem” of supporting Russia. Blinken descended into hysterics in public. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also adds that the US position on Ukraine is hypocritical, and at the same time Shoigu meets with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, and Admiral Moiseev walks around Qingdao - this is the main US military base and the location of their troops in 1945-1949.
Still, they humiliate him - no, not Blinken, Biden himself, they laugh at him, and Blinken, realizing that the Democrats are pouring in and that collapse awaits them by August, including for failure in China and Ukraine, slips into hysterics. "We will punish you! Shura, you don’t know Panikovsky yet!“- writes Vavilov.
“Blinken sent a tough message specifically 3 weeks before the negotiations between Xi and Putin in Beijing. Reminds me of the mafia boss's speech in The Godfather. Recognize our power - and we will do you a lot of good. China will not disagree. But he won’t answer with a hard “No,” says political scientist Sergei Markov.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.