Republicans are grumbling about the Biden administration’s handling of the growing threat posed by China, as some questioned why Secretary of State Antony Blinken would even meet with President Xi Jinping.
Blinken and Xi met in the Great Hall of the People for 35 minutes on Monday after the secretary spent more than 10 hours on Sunday with other senior officials.
After the meeting, Blinken reaffirmed that the US does not support the independence of Taiwan, the democratic area where China is rapidly advancing and said China had rejected its calls for closer contact on defense.
“Secretary Blinken shouldn’t be on this trip,” Florida Republican Representative Mike Waltz told Fox News. “I don’t know what else the Chinese Communist Party has to do to violate American sovereignty.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday
Republicans grumbled at the Biden administration’s handling of the growing threat posed by China, while some questioned why Secretary of State Antony Blinken would even meet with President Xi Jinping.
Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R, said he doubted Blinken’s ability to handle such a geopolitically fraught relationship in a private meeting.
‘I really don’t trust Minister Blinken very much, especially when it comes to dealing with the Chinese,’ he said. “This is the person who started the whole hunter biden laptop disinformation campaign.”
“I really don’t know what happened behind closed doors. And frankly, I don’t trust the smell.’
Asked what he thinks came out of the meeting, China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told Fox News: “I think we probably just got a commitment to talk some more .’
The Chinese Communist Party is aiming for a meeting between Xi and President Biden at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November.
Blinken said at the meeting that Xi had rejected his request for a military crisis hotline between Washington and Beijing, which had been a top priority for the Biden administration.
Blinken said at the meeting that Xi had rejected his request for a military crisis hotline between Washington and Beijing, which was a top priority for the Biden administration.
US defense officials have ignored their calls amid dangerous near misses between the Chinese and US militaries – including near misses in the air and on the South China Sea. Beijing also refused to answer the phone when the US shot down a spy balloon in February.
“This is something we will continue to work on,” Blinken said at a post-meeting press conference. “And as I said, there’s no immediate progress, but it’s an ongoing priority for us.”
China cut military communication channels after then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made a trip to Taiwan last August.
Blinken said he expected senior US officials to make further visits to China in the coming weeks and that the US would also welcome visits from Chinese officials.
State Department officials had already said they did not expect any breakthroughs from the trip, which was originally scheduled for February but was postponed due to the discovery of the spy balloon.
Blinken also reiterated US support for the One China policy.
“We do not support Taiwan’s independence,” he said, calling out China for intruding into Taiwan’s territory.
We remain against any unilateral change of the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of disputes over the Strait. We remain committed to continuing our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act, including ensuring that Taiwan can defend itself.”
He warned of economic collapse if China took over the territory completely.
“At the same time, we and many others are deeply concerned about some of the provocative actions China has taken in recent years, going back to 2016,” Blinken added. “And the reason this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that there would be a crisis around Taiwan.”
“There is a good chance that this could cause an economic crisis that could literally affect the entire world.”
Nevertheless, the Republicans seized on the explicit opposition to Taiwan’s independence.
“The Biden admin gives China the go-ahead to increase intimidation against our ally, Taiwan,” wrote Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., on Twitter.
“The United States must fully and unequivocally support Taiwan’s independence from the CCP regime and show the path to peace through strength,” Representative Michelle Steel, R-Calif., said in a statement to DailyMail.com. ‘It was disappointing, but not surprising that State Secretary Blinken did not show the necessary strength during this visit.’
China has long considered self-governing Taiwan part of its territory and in recent years has raised the prospect of taking it over by force.
Gallagher said increasing dialogue with CCP leaders carries “very real risks.”
“The risk of this renewed engagement strategy is that we give up major defensive actions to engage in a series of endless fruitless conversations with the CCP that only allow them to advance their anti-American, totalitarian vision.
Gallagher said his committee has invited the Biden administration to testify for at least four months about the goals of their renewed engagement with China.
“If they honestly believe that this revival of an engagement strategy – which has failed for 20 years – will be successful … then they should have that discussion with us.”
Gallagher said the US had been operating for decades “on the naive assumption that somehow economic integration would change the nature of how the CCP operates.”
China has learned in recent decades that Americans are very prone to compromise in their pursuit of diplomacy. Ultimately, any diplomacy must be backed by a credible military deterrent.”