Editorial: Sino-US sitdown just for show; diplomatic achievements overblown | Apple Daily HK
The high-level Sino-U.S. diplomatic “2+2” talks will be held in Alaska in the U.S. this morning, Hong Kong time. This is the first meeting between the high-level officials of China and the U.S. in nine months, and the world is watching. The strange thing is that both in terms of the timing and the location, it is clearly the U.S. asserting pressure on China. Both sides have even been shooting verbal darts at each other prior to the meeting, rather than creating a good vibe. It just doesn’t show the world that there is hope for the Sino-U.S. relations to thaw from the sub-zero chill. For the Chinese officials, this trip is comparable to the humiliation of Chen Shui-bian’s border-crossing incident in 2007. Whether the performance is believable, or whether there are actual results, the message that will be broadcasted is that this is a win on the diplomatic level for Xi Jinping.
When the White House announced the high-level Sino-U.S. 2+2 meeting, it stressed the significance of the location and time of the meeting. The venue is within the territory of the U.S., that is, the home arena and dominance are with the U.S., “on American soil”; the timing is “after we have met and consulted closely with partners and allies in both Asia and Europe,” that is, what China is to the U.S. is the “second-class” diplomatic relationship that is neither allies nor partners. What the CCP fears most is losing face, so it insists that this is a “high-level strategic dialogue” between China and the U.S.
What is worth highlighting is the two actions the U.S. has taken prior to the 2+2 meeting that are extremely humiliating to the CCP: Firstly, the U.S. and Japan’s defense minister issued a joint statement after the 2+2 meeting, criticizing China by the name for the first time for its expansion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, as well as its violation of human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Secondly, the U.S. has updated its list of sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, naming 24 mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for the damage to Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Although China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, sternly criticized the U.S-Japan joint statement and the sanctions list, and bombarded the U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies by calling the U.S. an “out-and-out eavesdropping empire”, a “stealing empire”, and an “empire of hacking”. However, in spite of that, the two highest-level Chinese diplomats, Yang Jiechi, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CCP, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, are still set to attend the meeting as scheduled, and have not countered the humiliating actions and words of the U.S.
Although Anchorage in Alaska is remote in geography, it has its significance in the history of Sino-U.S.-Taiwan relations. In May 2006, when Chen Shui-bian planned his trip to Central America and asked to pass through the borders of the U.S., he was dissatisfied that he was only arranged to transit through the Anchorage Airport, and therefore changed his itinerary to go through the UAE. In August 2007, Chen Shui-bian had again asked to transit through the U.S., and was also only arranged to transit at the Anchorage Airport. In order to stress the importance of overseas diplomatic relations before leaving office, he accepted the arrangement of staying only 50 minutes there. To show his dissatisfaction, he wore neither a suit nor a tie. He also did not get off the plane to meet with U.S. officials. He told the media that in order to complete the diplomatic trip of “co-creating a grand vision and perpetuity for care” with countries in Central America, and “despite the personal humiliation, one must endure.”
In April 2017, after Xi Jinping met with Trump in the first summit held in Sea Lake Estate, Florida, he returned to China via Alaska. Who would have known that four years later, Alaska is once again the point of initiation of contacts between the Chinese and American governments? Enduring the humiliation, the high-level Chinese officials are set to attend the meeting. That speaks to the importance of the meeting. According to sources, the Chinese side requested that the sanctions and restrictions imposed by the Trump administration on China be lifted, and is also strongly pushing for the U.S. and China to hold a video summit next month. China’s bargaining chips are to provide assistance to the U.S. to combat the Wuhan virus, to respond to climate change, to restrict nuclear proliferation, and to deal with North Korea’s nuclear issue.
In fact, the CCP knows very well that these bargaining chips cannot stop the U.S.’ besiegement on the CCP on economic, trade, military, and human rights issues. Whether it is the diplomatic 2+2 talks, or the summit next month with Xi Jinping and Biden, there will not be concrete results that will fill the gaping 9-month hole of Sino-U.S. decoupling, and the departure of the U.S. ambassador to China from office for nearly half a year. However, the CCP desperately needs this kind of “strategic dialogues” and “summit” to announce Xi Jinping’s diplomatic win. Any meeting is immediately a strategic dialogue, and any summit is a win for Xi Jinping’s diplomatic thinking which “surpasses the Western theory of international relations for more than 300 years.”
Xi Jinping has already declared his overwhelming victory in his fight against corruption, a victory against the epidemic, and a complete victory in the national fight against poverty. In his domestic work, he has paved his path for his re-appointment as the General-Secretary and President of the Communist Party of China in the next and forthcoming years. Whether his status within the party would surpass those of Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong would depend on his work on the issues of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the U.S. The inner-party criticisms against him at the moment are mainly around his wrecking of Hong Kong’s autonomy which was so painstakingly concocted by Deng Xiaoping, as well as diplomacy with the U.S. No light at the end of the tunnel is seen with the military reunification of Taiwan, yet as the Hong Kong National Security Law was enacted, the “patriots ruling Hong Kong” legislation is inching towards success, wouldn’t yet another win in diplomacy with the U.S. worth a shrine to revere the achievements of this divine, sovereign that is one in a million years?
Click
here for Chinese version
We invite you to join the conversation by submitting columns to our opinion section:
[email protected]Apple Daily reserves the right to refuse, abridge, alter or edit guest opinion columns for accuracy, length, clarity, and style, and the right to withdraw and withhold columns based on the discretion of our editorial page editors.
The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.
---------------------------------
Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app:
bit.ly/2yMMfQETo download the latest version,
Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play