WILL SHE OR WON’T SHE? The White House says the future of Taiwan dominated much of the two hour 20 minutes phone call between President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping, but neither side would reveal if the subject of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s not-so-secret plan to lead a congressional delegation to the island next month came up.
Both sides released separate readouts of how the call went, and they roughly correlated, agreeing the tone was “substantive, in-depth, and candid,” according to a senior Biden administration official, and a “candid communication and exchange,” according to China’s Foreign Ministry. Neither readout mentioned Pelosi, and the White House briefer refused to discuss Pelosi’s plans despite repeated questions on a background call for reporters.
“The two leaders had an in-depth discussion of Taiwan, and as I noted, the president reaffirmed our policy. But I’m not going to get into the details beyond that on the question of the speaker’s potential travel,” the official said. “I’d note that, you know, no trip has been announced. And as we’ve said previously, it’s her decision.”
‘THOSE WHO PLAY WITH FIRE WILL PERISH BY IT’: While the tone was polite and constructive, both leaders restated their respective long-standing policies toward Taiwan, with Biden reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the One China policy while restating opposition to “unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.”
“Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China,” Xi is said to have told Biden.
“China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. The public opinion cannot be defied,” the Foreign Ministry statement said. “Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the U.S. will be clear-eyed about this. The U.S. should honor the One China principle … both in word and in deed.”
Asked if the fiery rhetoric amounted to a threat from China, the senior White House official said he would “not get into parsing the various metaphors” that China uses. “I will note that President Xi used similar language in the conversation that the two leaders had back in November.”
XI BRISTLED OVER CHINA BEING LABELED AMERICA’S ‘PRIMARY RIVAL’: “President Xi underscored that to approach and define China-US relations in terms of strategic competition and view China as the primary rival and the most serious long-term challenge would be misperceiving China-US relations and misreading China’s development, and would mislead the people of the two countries and the international community,” said the Chinese version of the call.
“President Xi underscored the need for China and the US to maintain communication on such important issues as coordinating macroeconomic policies, keeping global industrial and supply chains stable, and protecting global energy and food security.”
The U.S. side also said the overall theme of the call was the need to keep communication lines open, especially over Taiwan.
“The two leaders discussed the fact that the United States and China have differences when it comes to Taiwan but that they have managed those for over 40 years, and that keeping an open line of communication on this issue is essential to continuing to do so,” the senior administration official told reporters.
“We believe it’s important for the United States and China to work together on areas where our interests align, even when we have substantial differences or are engaged in competition in a number of different areas,” the official said. “This is what responsible nations do. They manage areas where they have differences, and they find ways to work together for the good of their own peoples and for the common good of the people of the world.”
BIDEN AND XI MAKE PLANS TO MEET IN PERSON AMID TAIWAN TENSIONS
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HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup to the Pentagon for meetings as North Korea has amped up its bellicose rhetoric about its willingness to use nuclear weapons.
The meeting followed, by a day, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s speech to war veterans on the 69th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, in which he accused both South Korea and the U.S. of provocations.
“The South Korean conservative regime which took office this year is resorting to the extremely atrocious confrontation policies,” Kim said, according to an English translation of his speech on the monitoring website KCNAWatch. “At this very moment, south Korea is growing more frantic to develop weapons and strengthen its defense industry in a bid to recover, even a little, its military inferiority as compared with ours, and it is planning to bring in nuclear strategic weapons of the United States in large numbers and expanding war drills under various pretexts.”
Kim accused the U.S. of “double-dealing behavior,” which is “that of a gangster” and is driving relations between Washington and Pyongyang to “a point of fierce collision, which cannot be reversed any further.”
“I reaffirm that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is thoroughly prepared to cope with any kind of military clashes with the United States,” he said. “Our armed forces are now fully prepared to cope with any sort of crisis, and our state’s nuclear war deterrent is also fully ready to demonstrate its absolute power accurately and promptly true to its mission.”
READ KIM JONG UN’S FULL SPEECH HERE
NEW CSO: President Joe Biden nominated Space Force Lt. Gen. Bradley C. Saltzman for promotion to general and to become the second chief of space operations, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Saltzman is the current deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear, headquarters at the Pentagon.
Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, who was the first chief of space operations, is retiring.
At a recent Air Force Association Warfare Symposium, Saltzman said he wasn’t confident in today’s “space status quo” in the event of a “high-end fight” with China’s military “if all sides of a fight are using space the way they currently do now,” according to Air Force Magazine.
“I don’t like our advantages there — the complexity of synchronizing in the Indo-Pacific, the distances we have to cover,” Saltzman said. China is “going to have targeting capability. They’ve got advanced weapons … I don’t like to win 51 to 50. That’s not the way I want to go to war with these guys.”
CORNYN: BURN PIT BILL WILL PASS: There was a lot of outrage expressed yesterday when a bill to expand health benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic materials while serving overseas failed a procedural vote, over Republican objections.
The bill passed handily last month by a wide bipartisan margin of 84-14, but after the bill received some technical corrections in the House, it came back to the Senate floor.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) blames Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for the failure of the bill to move to a final vote, saying he blocked votes on two amendments the Republicans were seeking.
“There was an agreement … for two amendment votes when this bill passed,” Cornyn said, according to CNN. “Senator Schumer would not allow those votes to occur. And what we’re hoping for is there will be a negotiation to eliminate some of the mandatory spending in the bill and then the bill can pass. But this is a cloture vote to provoke a conversation. But I expect it ultimately to pass in some form or another.”
GOP SENATORS BLOCK BILL EXPANDING VETERANS CARE TO ADDRESS TOXINS OVER SPENDING
READER DISCRETION ADVISED: There is a video circulating on social media that purportedly shows a Russian soldier castrating a Ukrainian prisoner, which has provoked outrage and renewed calls for Russia to be labeled a terrorist state.
“All the world needs to understand: Russia is a country of cannibals who enjoy torture and murder. But the fog of war will not help to avoid the punishment of the executioners. We identify everyone. We will get everyone,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on Twitter, according to the English translation.
The video surfaced on a pro-Ukrainian Telegram account and is said to show at least two Russian soldiers holding down a bound Ukrainian soldier and cutting off his genitals with what appears to be a scalpel.
“I just watched the video showing Russian soldiers cutting off the genitalia of Ukrainian POWs. How do you unsee that?” said retired Army Maj. John Spencer on Twitter. “WTF are we waiting on to halt this evil? Stop incrementally sending weapons, we all know they need — 100 MLRS, all types of rounds, ATACMs, tanks, etc, send it!” said Spencer, who is chairman of urban warfare studies at the Madison Policy Forum.
WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG? One would think that considering America’s strong support for the expansion of the NATO alliance to include Finland and Sweden that the U.S. would be one of the first countries to ratify the accession protocols.
But as the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’ Brad Bowman points out, 20 of the 30 NATO nations have already given their approval, according to NATO.
“The United States should be among the first to welcome Finland and Sweden into the alliance — not among the last,” Bowman said in a tweet this week. “The Senate could have had the vote this week. Those who suggest otherwise don’t know how the Senate works. It’s a matter of priorities and *this* is a priority,” he said. “There’s no excuse for not bringing it to the floor before the August recess.”
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that many NATO members have ratified Sweden and Finland’s accession protocols. “We appreciate the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s swift action to advance those protocols; we hope the full Senate will act quickly to do the same,” he said.
To take effect, the ratification instruments must be deposited with the U.S. government. Turkey, which has said it wants to see concrete evidence that Finland and Sweden are living up to commitments made in Madrid, remains the big question mark.
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The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Biden and Xi make plans to meet in person amid Taiwan tensions
Washington Examiner: GOP senators block bill expanding veterans care to address toxins over spending
Washington Examiner: Kim Jong Un warns US and South Korea his ‘nuclear war deterrent’ is ‘ready’
Washington Examiner: Russia using mass deportations to depopulate Ukraine
Washington Examiner: House sends $280B semiconductor and science bill aimed at China to Biden’s desk
Washington Examiner: Mayor Bowser requests activation of DC National Guard over migrant buses
Washington Examiner: Biden administration to finish portion of Trump’s border wall following pressure from Democrat
Washington Examiner: Jan. 6 texts belonging to top DHS officials missing: Reports
Washington Examiner: DOJ reveals what is behind spike in domestic terrorism incidents
Washington Examiner: Man arrested trying to get on Space Force base to warn of war between aliens and dragons
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Wagner Group units should be annihilated wherever they attack US forces
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Russia makes US beg for bad hostage deal
New York Times: Russians, Risking Isolation In Port City as Ukraine Readies Attack in South
Washington Post: Weapons May Give Ukraine Edge As Russians Stall
Reuters: Ukraine Bombs Russian Forces In The South, Missiles Hit Near Kyiv
AP: Separatists say shelling killed Ukrainian prisoners of war
AP: Isolation complication? US finds it’s hard to shun Russia
Washington Post: A Richer, Stronger China Warns Pelosi Not To Visit Taiwan
Washington Times: China’s ‘Breathtaking’ Nuclear Arms Push A Rising Challenge, Stratcom Chief Says
USNI News: Pentagon Official: Chinese Military Actions Against Foreign Ships, Aircraft Are No Accidents—They’re Policy
Breaking Defense: New Chinese Aid For Syria Sets Off Alarms In Israel
New York Times: Iran Steps Up Drone Exports As It Seeks To Build Global Clout
Politico: Lawmakers Press Pentagon for Answers as Military Recruiting Crisis Deepens
Air Force Magazine: Faulty Ejection Parts Prompt USAF to Ground Some T-38s, T-6s
Air Force Magazine: Senate Panel Proposes 8.7 Percent Bump to Pentagon Budget
Red Snow: Air National Guard Filling Gaps as Force Multiplier for U.S. Space Force
Military Times: Africa Command Balancing Rise Of Terrorism With Limited Resources
Red Snow: Outgoing Africa Command General: U.S. Casualties In Somalia ‘Inevitable’
19fortyfive.com: Could Ukraine Really Take Back Kherson?
19fortyfive.com: Watch: Ukraine Is Using HIMARS to Strike Russian Military Targets
19fortyfive.com: 19fortyfive.com: Is a China Crisis Now Inevitable?
19fortyfive.com: Boeing’s F-15EX Fighter: Dead or Alive?
19fortyfive.com: How Russia Stole Its Way (Thanks to the U.S. Navy) to Stealth Submarines
The Cipher Brief: Book Review: Putin’s Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia’s Information War against the World
Calendar
FRIDAY | JULY 29
8:30 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel nearing: “Service Members’ Reproductive Health and Readiness,” with testimony from Sharon Arana, active-duty service member; Theresa Mozzillo, active-duty service member; Dr. Jackie Lamme, OB-GYN, Naval Medical Officer; Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, OB-GYN, Texas-based civilian; Gil Cisneros, undersecretary of defense personnel and readiness; Seileen Mullen, acting secretary of defense health affairs; and Caroline Krass, Pentagon general counsel https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies conference: “The Nuclear Posture in Review,” Former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller, lecturer at Stanford University https://www.csis.org/events/nuclear-posture-review
12 p.m. — Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a joint press availability with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Haguida Koichi at the State Department. https://www.state.gov/
MONDAY | AUGUST 1
6:00 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. — Hudson Institute book discussion: “The Arc of a Covenant,” a history of U.S.-Israel relations, with author Walter Russell Mead, distinguished fellow, Hudson Institute; and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-arc-of-a-covenant-book-talk
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. The public opinion cannot be defied.Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the U.S. will be clear-eyed about this.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday’s phone conversation between President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping.
