How much respect does Chinese President Xi Jinping have for U.S. President Joe Biden?
Not all that much, if an account from NBC News is to be believed.
And since NBC News tends to be more interested in propping up our octogenarian chief executive than in tearing him down, my instinct is to believe them.
According to a Wednesday report from the outlet, Xi told Biden during their recent tête-à-tête in San Francisco that China had already decided to “reunify” Taiwan with the mainland, though the timing was still to be worked out.
If that doesn’t sound so disrespectful to you, you may be forgetting that Biden — to the consternation of the Chinese at the time — promised a little over a year ago to put American boots on the ground on Taiwan if necessary to prevent its forceful annexation by the mainland.
Biden told “60 Minutes” in September, 2020, that, unlike the situation in Ukraine, he was willing to commit “U.S. forces — American men and women” to Taiwan’s defense in the event of an “unprecedented attack” on the island.
“The CBS interview was just the latest time that Biden has appeared to go beyond long-standing stated U.S. policy on Taiwan, but his statement was clearer than previous ones about committing U.S. troops to the defend the island,” Reuters reported at the time.
But here’s the thing: Whether you had forgotten about that “60 Minutes” interview of not (and, honestly, I only half-remembered it myself), it’s certain that Xi and his advisers had not.
Nonetheless, for whatever reason, what Taiwan’s foreign ministry last year called the “U.S. government’s rock-solid security commitment to Taiwan” was apparently insufficient deterrent to China’s often-stated intention to reclaim Taiwan as its own.
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Xi apparently made the statement in a group of about 12 officials from both nations, NBC said, stating that China would prefer to take Taiwan without resorting to use of force.
But take it, China apparently plans to do.
In insisting that no timetable yet existed for the plan, Xi said that U.S. military leaders who predicted an attempt in 2025 or 2027 were incorrect — how could those predictions be accurate, if no plans had yet be laid?
On the other hand, China could draft a plan in 2024 and execute it in 2025 and both Xi and the U.S. leaders who made that prediction would be right. A foreign policy win-win.
Well, a win-win-lose, I guess. Taiwan probably wouldn’t look at a 2025 invasion as a win, come to think of it.
Point is, it’s hard to know what, exactly, Xi doesn’t respect: the U.S. military? America’s commitment to defend its allies abroad? Biden’s resolve? All of the above?
A spokesperson for the National Security Council had no comment for NBC when asked, which seems like a good idea to me, but Sen. Lindsey Graham had one, even though I’m pretty sure no one asked him.
“This story as reported is beyond unnerving,” Graham said, according to the outlet. “I will be working with Democratic and Republican Senators to do two things quickly. First, create a robust defense supplemental for Taiwan and second, draft pre-invasion sanctions from hell to impose on China if they take action to seize Taiwan.”
Welp. That should take care of it.
