Republicans are using Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing to portray the Biden administration as weak on China, framing the attempted diplomatic reset as tantamount to appeasement.
Blinken made the two-day visit, in which he met with top-ranking diplomats and President Xi Jinping, amid what both sides acknowledge is a low point in relations between the United States and China. Blinken had planned to visit in February but postponed the trip after the U.S. shot down a Chinese balloon suspected of spying on nuclear military sites.
WHITE HOUSE ‘CAN’T SPEAK’ TO CHINA’S INTENTIONS FOR TAIWAN
Washington has taken an increasingly confrontational stance toward China, America’s biggest geopolitical rival, but Republicans say the Biden administration is refusing to take needed steps to contain Beijing in the pursuit of “fruitless” diplomacy.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, urged new sanctions on Chinese officials in the run-up to Blinken’s trip and is pushing for tighter export controls.
“I think diplomacy is important, but if you’re going to sit down, then sit down from strength, not from weakness. You need to have leverage in these talks to achieve something,” McCaul said on Fox News Monday.
The Biden administration has imposed rounds of sanctions on Chinese organizations and individuals, and its decision to restrict China’s access to semiconductor technology has Beijing fuming that the U.S. is attempting to stifle its growth.
But the president is reportedly “slow walking” certain penalties on China and has recently softened his rhetoric. Biden on Saturday doubted Chinese Communist Party officials intended to surveil the U.S. with its balloon.
“I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional,” he told reporters.
Blinken mirrored that tone in his trip to China, the first by a secretary of state in five years. Even as he pressed China on its human rights record and tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he hailed the talks as an “important start” that would let the two countries close the book on the balloon episode.
GOP lawmakers dismissed the trip as an “apology tour” that made America look weak on the world stage. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the No. 4 Republican in the House, said on Friday the visit served to “legitimize” Xi’s “subversion of our sovereignty,” citing the sale of U.S. farmland to China and reports that it had built a spy station in Cuba.
But it was Blinken’s comment that the U.S. “does not support Taiwan independence,” made at the tail end of his trip, that set off a flood of criticism on the Right.
The U.S. has long struck a delicate balance regarding the “question” of Taiwan, an autonomous island China views as its territory. The Biden administration, like administrations before it, recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole government of China, but it simultaneously does not recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.
Blinken reiterated the so-called One China policy in his Monday remarks, emphasizing that U.S. policy had not and would not change, even as the U.S. has taken steps to build a closer alliance with the island.
“We’ve made clear that we oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side,” he said. “We’ve been clear and consistent in our policy, and it’s very important that we preserve the status quo that has helped maintain peace and stability across the strait for decades.”
Republicans called Blinken’s refusal to support Taiwan’s independence a display of cowardice. “Why won’t this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom?” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked, while Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) quipped that the diplomat “apparently went to China to kick off the Chinese Century.”
Biden has oscillated between bold statements and restraint when it comes to Taiwan. In September, he promised to defend the island if China mounted an invasion but cautioned then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) against visiting Taiwan months earlier for fear of provoking China. Pelosi ultimately made the trip.
Firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said Monday that Biden made Pelosi look strong on China, while Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) argued Blinken’s remarks give the country a “green light” to intimidate Taiwan.
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In the face of GOP attacks, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), a member of the House Select Committee on China, has made multiple television appearances to defend the Biden administration for its trip.
“Secretary Blinken is traveling to China from a position of strength,” he told CNN on Sunday, citing U.S. efforts to deepen its alliances in the Indo-Pacific and the health of the U.S. economy relative to China’s.
