Xi Jinping

President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first meeting since Biden took office today, a high-profile summit meant to set the tone for U.S.-China relations in the coming period. Outwardly, the two leaders remained cordial and affirmed their willingness to maintain dialogue with one another, with Biden going so far as to say “there need not be a new Cold War” between the two powers. The two sides agreed to restart regular talks relating to cooperation in the fight against climate change, and Secretary of State Blinken is set to travel to China for follow up discussions in the near future. But in fact, a new Cold War has already been set in motion through the actions of successive U.S. administrations that have identified China as their number one target and taken aggressive measures to deepen confrontation. Real peace would require a complete reorientation of U.S. policy — one that is desperately needed if the world is to avoid catastrophic conflict on a global scale.

I’ve given up being amazed at how stupidly the Biden administration conducts its diplomacy with China and, by extension, Asia altogether. I spend my time now being amazed at how stupid these people assume the Chinese and other Asians to be. Nearly halfway through his term in office — and let us hope there is not another after this one — the man from Scranton finally met Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday to discuss the single most important relationship between any two nations anywhere in the world. This first face-to-face encounter since Joe Biden began his presidency comes after nearly two years of diplomatic drift during which the U.S. has escalated the threat of open conflict, incessantly provoked the Chinese on the Taiwan question and the administration’s bench of incompetents makes one mess after another.