Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to lead a delegation of senators to Beijing in hopes of improving diplomatic relations with China, after the White House spent the last three years trashing U.S.-Chinese relations. President Joe Biden, 80, 60-year-old National Security Adviser Antony Blinken and 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have done nothing but alienate Beijing accusing Communist China of committing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Western China and cracking down on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. When Biden sent Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin to Beijing July 6, it was an effort to find some common ground after Bidien has driven relations with CommunistChina to potential blows. Biden told the press Sept. 19, 2022 that he would commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Mainland Chinese invasion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, 70, was infuriated with Biden’s statement, considering it a breach of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, signed into law by former President Jimmy Carter, ending the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and recognizing only one China, the one in Beijing. Biden’s statement drove U.S.-Chinese relations to the lowest level since the 1949 Maoist Revolution, where Chinese Communists massacred millions of citizens to seize control of China. Biden prompted Xi to order aggressive military actions in the Taiwan Strait to intimidate Taipei, all because Biden couldn’t handle his job of maintaining diplomacy with foreign adversaries. However bad Biden’s relations with Beijing, they were far worse with the Russian Federation, joining Feb. 24, 2022 Ukraine war with the Kremlin .Now Schumer heads to Beijing to try to mend fences.
Schumer has a vested interest Beijing because chipmaker Micron Technology [MT] builds a chip factor in New York. Because of poor relations with China, Chinese officials have threatened to ban Micron’s sales in China, something that accounts to about 50% of the company’s current sales. Yellen tried to mend fences with China staying clear of human rights issues, focusing only on U.S.-China business ties. Schumer hopes to do the same but is pressured by Democrats to address human rights issues. Joined by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho.), Schumer hopes his delegation can resolve Micron’s audit by Chinese authorities on cyberscurity issues. “The purpose is for us to engage with them, just like you’ve seen some of the senior administration officials, on the broad array of issues that we have,” said Crapo, refusing to discuss the Micron issue in particular, a major reason for the trip.
Without acknowledging the deteriorated state of U.S.-Chinese relations, the blame goes with Biden for funding his proxy war against the Kremlin, driving China and Russia into a new economic, military and strategic alliance. Biden tried to get Xi to denounce Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. But Xi sees things differently, agreeing that the U.S. armed Ukraine on Russian border, threatening Russia’s national security. Biden has tried recently to create a new NATO-like organization in Asia to confront growing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. Schumer hopes to meet with Xi but its far more likely he’ll meet with senior Chinese officials like Wang Yi, director of the Chinese Communist Central Committee and Foreign Affairs. “We really believe that the more engagement we have, the more opportunity and potential there is to resolve conflict,” said Crapo.
Crapo jointed Schumer because Micron Technology is headquartered in Boise, Idaho, knowing the stakes for the company. If Micron is banned from selling chips in China, it would have devastating consequences for its share prices, currently at $68. Schumer and Crapo hope to improve U.S.-Chinese relations so that if Xi attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, Nov. 11-17. If Xi doesn’t attend, it would be a slap in the face to Biden, whose done everything possible to alienate China since taking office Jan. 20, 2021. Now that Micron Technology could lose 50% of its sales with China, Schumer and Crapo lead a delegation to China. How about getting Biden to stop provoking Xi, but, more importantly, end the reckless Ukraine War that has driven Russia and China into a close alliance. Schumer and Crapo probably won’t get an audience with Xi.
Schumer and Crapo have the White House blessings going to Beijing and Shanghai to help mend fences with China. Yellen didn’t have much luck in July on her visit to Beijing, largely because Biden keeps provoking Xi. If Biden wanted to improve ties with Communist China, he would stop building his NATO-like coalition, including Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malyasia, Indonesia, etc. to confront Beijing. Xi won’t back the U.S. proxy war against the Kremlin because he sees how Biden encroaches on Russian and Chinese sovereignty. Whether Schumer and Crapo can help resolve any issues with Micron Technology is anyone’s guess. Unless Xi sees overtures directly from Biden, or at least Blinken, to back off plans to form a NATO-like coalition to resist Beijing, Xi isn’t likely to attend ASEAN summit in San Francisco. Biden must change his China policy or face the consequences.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
