Meeting in Vienna in an attempt to mitigate tensions, 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with 69-year-old Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, hoping to put U.S.-Chinese relations back on the right track. President Joe Biden, 80, infuriated 69-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping saying Sept. 23, 2022 that he would commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan should Beijing invade the independent democratic Republic of China. Biden violated 44 years of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, requiring the U.S. to abandon the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, a post Maoist Revolution commitment from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to defend a democratic free Taiwan. U.S. policy was to keep Taiwan free of communism. Xi saw Biden’s Sept. 23, 2022 statement as violating the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, prompting a chill in relations to Beijing.
Spending eight hours in talks over two days, Sullivan tried to find common ground, discussing the Fentanyl crisis, where Chinese chemical companies supply Mexico’s drug cartels to make the deadly opiate. Sullivan’s team announced that they had “candid and constructive” discussions about areas of agreement between the two superpowers. Relations headed south after a U.S. F-22 fighter jet shot down Feb. 16 a Chinese spy balloon. Relations have been strained since the Feb. 24, 2022 Ukraine War, where Biden expected China to denounce 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, only to watch Putin and Xi at a Kremlin summit pledged loyalty to each other. Biden wanted China to join his punitive economic sanctions and Russian oil embargo, only to watch Xi buy more Russian oil than ever. Ukraine and Taiwan have driven a wedge between Washington and Beijing.
Sullivan and 60-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Wang Yi last March 18, 2021 in Anchorage, Alsaska. Blinken and Sullivan accused Beijing of committing genocide of Muslim Uyghurs, prompting immediate fallout from the failed summit. Two years later, more pressing concerns drive the U.S. and Beijing to deal with growing tensions especially over Taiwan. Xi claims Taiwan as part of Mainland China with the U.S. and Taipei rejecting Xi’s claims. Taiwan emerged as a sticking point between Beijing and Washington when 83-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.f) visited Taiwan Aug. 4, 2022 over strong objections from Beijing. Chinese officials are especially concerned about Biden trying to create a coalition of Indo-Pacific countries willing to oppose Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea, asking Japan and Philippines to join.
Whatever tensions happened with the balloon incident, they’re made far worse by Biden’s commitment to defend Taiwan with U.S. troops. No matter how many billions Biden has poured into Kiev fighting proxy war against the Russian Federation, Biden has made overtures to Pacific-Rim nations to confront China in Indo-China. Former President Barack Obama filed suit against China at The Hague’s International Court of Arbitration, winning a ruling against China in 2016. China dismissed The Hague’s ruling, continuing to build military installations on shallow sandbars in the South China Sea. So, whatever conflict the U.S. has with Beijing over Taiwan, it’s only a small part of the rift with China. Meeting in Vienna, Sullivan hopes to reduce overall tensions that have threatened possible military intervention in Taiwan. Beijing wants the U.S. to butt out of its internal affairs.
Biden knows that relations with Russia and China have deteriorated to all-time lows, leaving the White House scrambling for damage control. Sullivan knows with the U.S. embroiled in a proxy war against the Russian Federation, decades of détente with the Kremlin have been lost for the foreseeable future. When it comes to China, Biden’s public statements a about defending Taiwan have put U.S.-Chinese relations into a deep duve. “We’ve made no secret that we see maintaining channels of communication as particularly important in times of tension, that it’s important to manage competition,” Sullivan said, pretending it’s about business. Whatever problems with U.S.-Chinese relations, it’s not about business but about the White House meddling in Beijing’s national security. Trying to form an anti-Chinese coalition in the Indo-Pacific region crosses the line for Beijing.
Xi made clear March 8 that he thinks the U.S. is undermining China in the Pacific-Rim, putting together a coalition of countries unhappy with Beijing’s foreign policy in the region. “We’re looking to marriage competition responsibility and seeking to work together with China where we can,” Sullivan said, completely ignoring the geopolitical bones of contention. Beijing wants Biden to cease-and-desist pressuring Chinese officials to denounce Russia on the Ukraine War. Xi doesn‘t hide his disappointment with Biden saying he would commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan. When it comes to forming an Indo-European NATO-like group to counter China’s aggression in the South China Sea, Beijing wants Biden to stop. Sullivan addressed none of the issues that could lead to a military confrontation with the superpowers. Sullivan has much more work to do.
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.
