China on Monday ramped up its aggressive rhetoric toward the United States.
Referencing U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s two-day visit to Tianjin, a Beijing satellite city, the Western-focused Global Times propaganda outlet warned China has “a greater tolerance for chaos than the US does.”
It added, “We must make the American people more and more aware of how stupid they are to forcibly shape China into a strategic opponent.”
That was just the start.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng also issued Sherman with two lists. One list focused on U.S. “wrongdoings,” the other on broader Chinese “concerns.”
What is on these lists?
“Wolf warrior” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian explained the “wrongdoings” include U.S. visa restrictions on Communist Party members, increased supervision of Chinese students, sanctions on Chinese companies, and the U.S. extradition request targeting Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
The concern list includes “the rejection of visa application of some Chinese students” and racism against those of Asian ancestry.
“China asked the U.S. side to address the cases as soon as possible,” Zhao said.
That’s not all. Zhao said Xie “expressed strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. side over its wrong words and deeds on issues relating to COVID-19 origin-tracing, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea, urging the US side to immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, stop damaging the interests of China, stop crossing the red lines and playing with fire, and stop seeking bloc confrontation under the guise of values.”
Phew. What to make of all this?
First off, and without any apparent sense of irony, China is saying the only way Washington and Beijing can improve relations is if Beijing can make Washington’s China policy. However, when we consider the issues China has raised, it becomes clear why that might be difficult.
Consider that increased U.S. scrutiny of Chinese student visa applications is necessary because many students are official or casual intelligence officers and agents.
COVID-19 origin tracing matters because there is a substantial possibility a devastating global pandemic originated in a Chinese government laboratory.
U.S. action over Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang matters because of grotesque human rights abuses and China’s betrayal of its treaty obligations. U.S. efforts to uphold free passage in the South China Sea matter because China intends to leverage access to those waters at the price of nations kneeling to its political demands.
Considering the South China Sea accounts for more than $3.5 trillion in international trade flows, this is no small concern.
There are three other important takeaways here.
First, it’s clear China is leveraging its support for other U.S. foreign policy priorities to extract concessions on its concerns. Zhao stated the U.S. had “sought China’s cooperation and support on climate change, the Iranian nuclear issue and the [North Korea] nuclear issue among others.” Zhao added China provided this cooperation (a lie), but it won’t continue “when the U.S. seeks cooperation with China while harming China’s interests.”
Observe China’s implicit admittance that it views climate change as a U.S. priority rather than, as Xi Jinping likes to pretend, a shared concern for humanity. This helps explain why China is bringing on hundreds of new carbon spewing coal plants each year. It’s a truth the Biden administration must grasp more cogently.
In its own statement on Monday, the State Department referenced Iran, North Korea, and climate change, saying Sherman had “affirmed the importance of cooperation in areas of global interest.”
Global interests? Or global interests China weaponizes to its own ends?
Second, China’s rhetoric makes clear technological development is its strategic priority in defeating the U.S. In its editorial describing “how stupid” Americans are, the Global Times observed Beijing’s strategy would depend on using “continuous development and strength building to crush the US’ will. Development is China’s most important source of strength.”
The point cannot be repeated enough: Chinese intellectual property theft will only increase. Deterring that activity requires the imposition of consequences beyond President Joe Biden’s confused equivocation.
Finally, it’s clear Beijing is increasingly uncomfortable with U.S. efforts to rally allies to its side. The editorial warns U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific, especially Japan and Australia, to “weigh the situation.” If they support the U.S., “they are betting their own future.”
We’re about to find a guidepost as to whether China’s not-so-diplomatic rhetoric and its associated economic pressure will succeed. Much depends on whether Britain deploys a warship within 12 miles of an unlawfully claimed Chinese island in August. If it does, Britain will encourage Japan, Australia, and others to take further steps in support of a rules-based international order.
If Britain fails to do so, Beijing will gain confidence the U.S. stands alone against it.
Regardless, Beijing has at least proved one thing: It remains undeterred in its grand global ambition.
