U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Shanghai to begin his second official visit to China during his tenure. And just one day later, China's Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft will soar into the sky with three astronauts. It seems to be a "coincidence" that these two things happened one after the other, but they are not that simple. We can see at least the dual meaning of China behind this arrangement, or that China has given the United States two choices, depending on how the United States understands it.
(Blinken's plane arrived in Shanghai, no red carpet)
First, the Chinese side is ready for both hard and soft hands
The first implication conveyed by the Chinese side to the US side is that even if the United States imposes layers of blockades and sanctions on China's high-tech fields, including aerospace, it will not be able to stop us from seizing the fruits of high-tech in the slightest. The second implication is that China has made remarkable achievements in high-tech fields, including aerospace, and has even taken the leading position in the world in some of these subdivisions, and the United States should immediately abandon the old Cold War mentality and give up suppressing China. If the United States can move in the same direction, it is not impossible for China and the United States to cooperate in space exploration and other fields. Therefore, it depends on how the US understands and chooses the signals sent by the Chinese side. And no matter whether the US side comes hard or soft next, we are not afraid and have the courage to accept it.
China's decision to do so is a response to the recent U.S. behavior toward China. So what has the United States done recently?
First of all, at the political level, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng recently said at the Harvard "Kennedy China Forum" that China and the United States have actually been discussing the border issue of "national security" since the end of last year, and that it is necessary to set up a fence for US "national security." The United States cannot use "national security" as an excuse to break all boundaries and arbitrarily exert pressure on China. We can see that in the five months from the end of last year to now, the strategic situation of the United States in the world has deteriorated considerably.
For example, on the battlefield in Ukraine, the United States provided weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian army five months ago, when there were veterans in Ukraine who were able to operate and use these weapons and ammunition, but now that more weapons have been supported, the Ukrainian army is basically left with new soldiers, which leads to the fact that even with new weapons, the Ukrainian army has no hope of winning, and the Russian army is preparing for a summer counteroffensive, and the situation facing the Ukrainian government is already very critical; The atrocities committed by the Israeli army against civilians in the Gaza Strip have aroused the anger of peace-loving people around the world, and the Israeli economy is facing collapse, and it will be difficult for the Israeli government to sustain the war without comprehensive assistance from the United States. Can the United States not be in a hurry?
(Cold War-conscious NASA administrator says the far side of the moon is "forever dark")
Second, the US side does not have much bargaining chips
Therefore, the US political circles have recently become particularly "manic" about China, demanding that China stop normal trade with Russia and Iran in order to hit the Russian and Iranian economies and help the United States tide over the difficulties in Ukraine and the Middle East. However, the United States does not have any bargaining chips with China, and it can be seen from the recent performance of Blinken and Yellen that the United States can only use the "big stick", which is to threaten to sanction Chinese enterprises and financial institutions that continue to trade normally with Russia and Iran, and to talk about kicking some Chinese banks out of the international interbank settlement system (SWIFT). Blinken's visit to China continued Yellen's topic and found another big stick, saying that China's photovoltaic panel and new energy vehicle industry has "overcapacity", and asked China to limit production and increase prices to prevent harm to the interests of American companies. Is this the attitude of genuine dialogue and consultation?
(Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft is ready to go)
Second, in the military, aerospace, and high-tech fields, U.S. officials have also focused on belittling China's achievements. For example, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently testified before Congress that he did not know why China was sampling the far side of the moon because it was always "dark." For example, the US "Breakthrough Defense" website recently quoted an "unnamed" Pentagon intelligence official as saying that the stealth performance of China's H-20 stealth bomber is not as good as that of the B-2 stealth bomber that was commissioned by the United States more than 20 years ago, so the US Air Force believes that it is "not a cause for concern." This is simply a joke, our H-20 has not yet made its first flight, and he knows the stealth performance? These high-level US officials are not only arrogant, but also stupid, living completely in their own imagination and unwilling to admit China's progress.
These actions are also an attempt by the Biden administration to show the world that the United States can "withstand" the current global situation through diplomatic and cognitive warfare before the election, but their hearts have obviously "broken the defense" and began to be embarrassed without logic and incoherentness. Therefore, during Blinken's visit, the mainland arranged for the launch of the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft to show the United States that we have long broken through US sanctions in the field of aerospace high-tech and independently developed first-class technology.
If Blinken fails to recognize the reality and wields a "big stick" at China, then he will gain nothing from this visit, just like Yellen.