(RightWing.org) – President Joe Biden attended the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, and took the time for a presser with reporters before traveling back to the United States. He opened by absolving himself of any responsibility for the stalemate and that spending limit and closed by making sure everyone knows that it is the fault of the MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives. In between bouts of kvetching, he did touch upon subjects for which he took Air Force One halfway around the world; world economics and politics in general, and relations with the People’s Republic of China (Communist/PRC) specifically. This is where he made some pretty bold predictions.
Pipe Dreams?
Biden tried to put a smile on the face of US/PRC relations which have become very strained in recent years. In response to a reporter’s question on diplomatic relations, after referencing the “silly balloon” incident, he predicted, “I think you’re going to see that begin to thaw very shortly.”
Afterward, he launched into a discussion of one of the thorniest issues the world has to contend with, which is the One China “policy” (which the PRC views as a “principle”) that America applies in the South China Sea, especially as it relates to Taiwan (ROC).
The US-Taiwan Business Council provides an explanation of the difference where America’s official policy holds that “Taiwan’s status is undetermined,” while the Communist nation’s principle is “a core belief stating that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”
This is a part of the Nine-Dash line concept used from the founding of the Communist regime in 1948. It conflicts with “the sovereignty claims of Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines,” according to a peer-reviewed article found in the United States Air Force’s Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, published in 2021.
Two-Way Street
When one considers China’s contention that the entirety of the South China Sea is its sovereign territory, even in the face of a United Nations arbitration ruling the claim void, one could legitimately wonder if Biden is being somewhat naïve. After the G-7 conference and the president’s speech, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled news site Global Times published an article and an op-ed on the topic.
The editorial did not seem overly optimistic and laid the blame at the feet of the Americans, saying every time there is the hope of “restarting dialogue… they are quickly extinguished by Washington’s suppression and containment actions against China.” They bemoaned the sanctions that have been levied against people and companies in the Communist nation, deeming them “illegal” and saying that lifting them is “a prerequisite for equal dialogue between the two sides.”
POLITICO published an article on May 22 proclaiming that a new Chinese ambassador by the name of Xie Feng has been appointed and will soon be arriving in Washington. But the Global Times news article claims that a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson would not confirm the assignment.
The story went on to say unnamed experts in China are of the opinion that the United States needs “to correct its wrong deeds and stop provoking Beijing on its core interests.” All things considered, that makes it sound like the starting point of any discussions would require America to change its One China policy into a principle.
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