Before Blinken boarded his visit to China, Biden made three moves against China, and the provocation was clearly revealed, and China will not sit idly by and watch this. On the eve of Blinken's visit to China, what "new measures" did the Biden administration introduce to contain China?
From US President Joe Biden's phone call to the Chinese side to exchange views with the Chinese side on issues such as implementing the important consensus reached at the San Francisco Summit, deepening high-level communication and exchanges between the two countries, to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit to China "while it is hot" and spending six days discussing bilateral economic and trade cooperation with the Chinese side, it has to be said that Washington is paying more and more attention to the stability of China-US relations.
U.S. media reported on April 17 that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China has most likely been "finalized," and he will leave for China on April 23 for a four-day visit. Although Blinken has not yet boarded the plane to depart, international speculation about the visit has been raging.
Some foreign media believe that during his visit to China, Blinken is likely to mention concerns about China's assistance to Russia in boosting its defense industry. Because in addition to keeping the U.S.-China relationship in a relatively stable state, the Biden administration also hopes that China will side with the U.S. on some international issues, such as stopping the deepening Sino-Russian cooperation.
It is worth mentioning that the Biden administration, which has been shouting about deepening cooperation with China, has not shown enough sincerity, but has made three moves in a row against China on the eve of Blinken's visit to China, which has the intention of exerting strong pressure on China to force China to make concessions. Biden's first move was to arrange for a high-profile U.S. military plane to sail over the Taiwan Strait, emphasizing the so-called "freedom of navigation."
In view of the fact that the Chinese and US defense ministers just held a video call on the evening of 16 July, the Chinese defense minister also stressed that the PLA will never let it go unchecked with all "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and external connivance and support, and the outside world generally believes that the US anti-submarine patrol plane that sailed through the Taiwan Strait on 17 July is a bit of a "crime against the wind."
Some experts believe that the fact that the Chinese and US defense ministers have held a formal dialogue again after 18 months is of quite positive significance, but the US side's small move of "saying one thing and doing another" will inevitably bring hidden dangers to the relations between the two militaries. You must know that China has always opposed such acts of invading China's territorial waters and airspace under the banner of "freedom of navigation" and aggravating tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Biden's second move is to plan to more than triple the current tariffs on steel and aluminum against China. According to Reuters, Associated Press and other media sources, Biden announced the news when he delivered a speech in Pittsburgh, known as the "Steel Capital". In view of the fact that Pennsylvania, where Pittsburgh is located, is one of the "battlefield states" in the US election, Biden and the Democratic Party, whose public approval rating is not optimistic, chose to make "radical" remarks here, and even followed Trump's example to hype up the tariff issue, undoubtedly trying to consolidate their votes through trade protectionist policies.
Some analysts believe that raising tariffs is one of the means used by the Biden team to demonstrate a tough attitude towards China. Yellen has repeatedly mentioned the problem of China's "overcapacity" before, and now Biden is obviously doing so to find a suitable reason for the weakness of US steel prices. Biden's third move is the Section 301 investigation against China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding issued by the Office of the US Trade Representative on the 17th.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the U.S. is "seriously considering" various trade defense tools to counter the "threat" posed by China's trade and economic policies, and that the main targets of the U.S. countermeasures include steel, solar panels, electric vehicles and other products.
In view of the progress of Chinese enterprises in the above fields, the Biden administration's actions are more aimed at curbing the development of Chinese enterprises.
In the face of repeated provocations by the US, China will never sit idly by. The Chinese side pointed out that China-US relations should adhere to the principles of peace, stability and trust, adhere to the bottom line of non-conflict and non-confrontation, fulfill each other's commitments with actions, continuously strengthen dialogue, and prudently manage differences. This is because only by creating a good external environment for Sino-US cooperation can we make the right choice for both countries.