Addressing American business persons and intellectuals on Monday evening, a top Chinese Communist official demanded that the Biden administration remain quiet in relation to China’s human rights violations.
In a much anticipated speech to the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Yang Jiechi called for “more cooperation” between the United States and China on a range of issues including “cyber-security.” That absurd comment sums up the general ridiculousness of Yang’s address. Beijing’s chief foreign policy strategist, Yang wants a relationship reset with the U.S. But his arrogant and deluded message will meet only eyebrow raises in the White House and U.S. government.
The standard-fare Chinese Communist talking points were on abundant display.
Yang called for “peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.” That “win-win” line is Beijing’s textbook snake-oil salesman pitch toward Americans. What China actually wants is for its strategic interests to subvert and subdue U.S. interests at every corner. China denies this, of course. Instead, Yang claimed that “China has no intention to challenge or replace the U.S. position in the world.” Wow. As measured by the reality of China’s diplomatic, economic, and security policies, Yang’s words evince a gall of truly historic proportions. The truth is clear: Communist China seeks a world in which the U.S.-led liberal international order is gradually displaced by a Beijing-led order of feudal mercantilism. An order in which trade, transit, and technological rights must be sacrificed to Beijing in return for its pat on the head.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that Yang and his Communist brethren are worried.
While he attacked the Trump administration’s “strategic misjudgment,” Yang is aware that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has praised Trump for taking a tougher stance against China. So, to coerce the Biden administration into a restored U.S. appeasement policy, Yang drew “a red line which must not be crossed.” Washington must not, Yang demanded, interfere with China’s interests in relation to Hong Kong and its treatment of the Uighur ethnic minority in Xinjiang province. Ignoring his regime’s ethnocidal treatment of the Uighurs, and absolute breach of its treaty obligations under the Sino-British joint declaration governing Hong Kong’s political status, Xi simply claimed that all of China’s 1.4 billion citizens “wholeheartedly support the leadership of the Communist Party.” Except, perhaps, those who do not.
Such silliness was abundant. Yang asserted that “China never meddles in the international affairs of the United States,” (except when it steals hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. intellectual property, and conducts influence efforts against U.S. elections). Yang demanded that the U.S. end its supervision of Chinese students on U.S. soil (a not insignificant number of which are intelligence officers and agents), and its skeptical approach toward Chinese technology companies like Huawei (which are actually intelligence collectors). Yang made clear that if Washington is willing to see the Chinese Communist light on these issues, new cooperation on trade and climate change will follow. Do not underestimate this rhetoric, especially on climate change. It’s an issue where Beijing rightly believes it can pledge a lot, deliver extraordinarily little, and earn significant U.S. gratitude in return.
Where does this leave us?
Well, following his speech, Yang stayed on for a private question-and-answer session with the National Committee on China-U.S. relations. My question as to why this was held off-record and privately was not answered by the committee. Still, the soaring quality of Yang’s silliness should give us hope that President Biden, Secretary Blinken, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan will see Yang’s speech for what it is. An inadvertent dark comedy that only Angela Merkel could applaud. And continued proof of the deceptive nature that defines America’s new Cold war adversary.
