The G20 in Bali, Indonesia, has concluded and it included numerous productive meetings including one between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – OPEC nations that have played a major role in the oil market amid high gas prices in the United States and abroad.
However, one meeting at the G20 that was an embarrassment was President Joe Biden’s Monday bilateral with China’s dictator-for-life Xi Jinping.
Let’s break down the White House statement on the meeting.
Here’s the first part:
President Biden explained that the United States will continue to compete vigorously with the PRC, including by investing in sources of strength at home and aligning efforts with allies and partners around the world. He reiterated that this competition should not veer into conflict and underscored that the United States and China must manage the competition responsibly and maintain open lines of communication. The two leaders discussed the importance of developing principles that would advance these goals and tasked their teams to discuss them further.
The U.S. approach to China should not be one of “competition,” rather Washington treating Beijing as an adversary and hostile actor. There is already what is a cold war between the United States and China. China has sought to militarily intimidate Taiwan by flying planes over and near the island. Unless the United States and its allies step up, China is all but certain to invade Taiwan, whose independence the United States and other countries should recognize, within the next few years if not sooner. After all, China has shown no regard for the international order from military to economic issues. Granted, the issues of Taiwan and market manipulation came up, but the statement did not provide what the United States would do concretely to address the issues.
Here's the second part of the White House statement (bolded emphasis mine):
President Biden underscored that the United States and China must work together to address transnational challenges – such as climate change, global macroeconomic stability including debt relief, health security, and global food security – because that is what the international community expects. The two leaders agreed to empower key senior officials to maintain communication and deepen constructive efforts on these and other issues. They welcomed ongoing efforts to address specific issues in U.S.-China bilateral relations, and encouraged further progress in these existing mechanisms, including through joint working groups. They also noted the importance of ties between the people of the United States and the PRC.
The priorities are absolutely misplaced. Climate change should not be a top issue as there are more pressing matters to discuss. Heck, China is the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. In 2019, China was responsible for 30 percent of global emissions, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Additionally, China has been building additional coal plants. There is no way people should expect China to change course.
When it comes to debt relief, the United States is more than $30 trillion in debt – and counting. China is one of America’s biggest lenders. Washington needs to cut wasteful spending and reform entitlements – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – which makes up the majority of federal spending. And the United States needs to stop borrowing from other countries and instead get its financial house in order so that future generations don’t have to suffer.
When it comes to health security, China falls short. Beijing has yet to be transparent about the origins of Covid-19 – an issue that apparently didn’t come up in the meeting. Whether inadvertently or on purpose, China unleashed a virus that has radically changed human society in numerous ways. If the international community “expects” anything from China, it’s at least getting answers to how the virus came about and what will be done to prevent from happening again what was China’s Chernobyl.
Furthermore, according to the statement, “President Biden raised concerns about PRC practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly.”
“PRC practices?” Let’s use the correct term for what China is doing in Xinjiang and Tibet: Genocide. After all, the U.S. has already recognized what China is doing to the Uyghurs as genocide! And what China is doing in Hong Kong is nothing short of suppression of an area that was once autonomous from mainland China. “PRC practices” is a gross phrase.
Lastly, according to the statement, “President Biden raised Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and Russia’s irresponsible threats of nuclear use. President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.”
However, China has at least expressed support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and has refused to call what Russia did an “invasion.” While Beijing has denied that Russia asked for military assistance, China has shown that it cannot be taken at its word.
At the end of the day, Biden demonstrated at the G20 that he is weak on the world stage. When America leads, the Free World succeeds. When it doesn’t, evil actors including China take over the power vacuum and create nothing but chaos
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackson Richman (@JacksonRichman) is a journalist in Washington, D.C. He is a writer for Mediaite and a contributor to The Washington Examiner. His work has also been featured in The Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller.