My Take | Biden left waiting by the phone as China refuses to play any more
- With no real desire to reach out, those at the White House are like aliens from sci-fi comedy ‘Mars Attacks!’ who come in peace but want to kill
President Joe Biden says a “thaw” in US relations with China is coming. He clearly expects Beijing to be a cheap date and just waits by the phone. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese decline to play along.
His crime? The purchase of Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 missile system equipment from Russia. How is that any of America’s business? Because such arms transfers are prohibited under US sanctions laws. They are of the unilateral kind that say, “We do it because we can.”
The Chinese side has made it known that any such top military meeting rests on the United States lifting the sanctions against Li. The US State Department responded by saying “sanctions do not necessarily prohibit sanctioned persons from meeting with US government officials”. How nice!
This was followed by another State Department statement that confirmed it would not lift the sanctions against Li. So Beijing got a bit annoyed and predictably rejected a meeting with Austin.
The Pentagon then joined the Washington chorus. As quoted by the Voice of America, a spokesman said “while General Li remains blocked from any US property interests, financial transfers, payments or foreign exchange under US jurisdiction due to current sanctions, President Joe Biden’s administration continues to seek open lines of communication with PRC military leaders to ensure competition does not spill into conflict”. That’s very thoughtful.