As I argued on Wednesday, iPINIONS was one of the few liberals who urged Speaker Pelosi to defy China by visiting Taiwan. I did so because I knew China’s fiery rhetoric was mostly hot air. Moreover, I knew Taiwan’s democracy was doomed if Beijing could bully even the United States into backing down so publicly.
Women emasculating men
Pelosi went, and her visit was a triumph. But in doing so, she didn’t just defy Xi; she also emasculated Biden.
Now it’s easy to picture Putin playing Iago to Xi’s Othello, goading him to turn bluster into battle. After all, misery loves company — and Putin would love nothing more than dragging Xi into his quagmire.
And you can just hear chauvinist-in-chief Putin telling Xi he can’t let two women (Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen) defy him with impunity on the world stage. Never mind that two other women humiliated Putin even more by leading Finland and Sweden into NATO. But if you’re looking for honor or consistency in autocrats, you’ll end up rummaging through a very dark hole…
Xi’s revenge
Now Xi is doubling down on his petulance; never mind that he’s only making himself look weaker and Pelosi look stronger.
He has ordered sanctions imposed against Pelosi. Except that this is the diplomatic equivalent of a woman scorned reacting to her lover dumping her by shouting, “I don’t love you anymore!”
More ominously, Xi is threatening a blockade of Taiwan. This, notwithstanding the prohibitive precedent the US set with its feckless 50-year embargo of Cuba…
But the US fears China could impose a full blockade within 18 months. Except that the sum of US fears should lead it to:
- Arm Taiwan to the teeth over the next 18 months — so it becomes an even pricklier porcupine for China than Ukraine has been for Russia.
- Wean the U.S. and its allies off Taiwan’s tech dependence — a process the CHIPS Act is meant to jump-start.
- Fortify Western economies — every way possible — to break their slavish reliance on China’s.
I can’t overstate how Xi’s reaction to Pelosi’s visit is making China look not strong and dreaded, but weak and dreadful.
Nothing affirms this more than today’s report that Xi is cutting off climate cooperation with the U.S. — even though the whole world knows that will hurt China more than America. So what’s the friggin’ point?
Biden’s shame
Biden didn’t oppose Pelosi’s visit. But he didn’t support it either.
Instead, he did what you’d expect from a waffling wimp like Trump: he ducked responsibility by claiming the military didn’t think it was a good idea, as if someone else is commander in chief.
But the no-brainer response to the all-too-predictable question about Pelosi’s visit should’ve been something like this:
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Of course Speaker Pelosi should visit Taiwan – as US delegations have been doing for decades.
Now, I get that the media’s buzzing about fiery rhetoric in the Chinese press. But I’ve had more meetings with President Xi than any other Westerner. He’s a smart, confident guy. So it’s frankly an insult to his leadership to suggest he’d threaten war with America (China’s biggest trading partner) just because one of our most respected politicians is making a routine visit to Taiwan, which the whole world recognizes as a self-governing part of China. I mean, not only would that make no sense, but it would make China look weak and insecure.
Anyway, I’ll be chatting with Xi later this week. I’m sure we’ll sort this out before moving on to more important things. Speaking of which… how about that Inflation Reduction Act?
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Trust iPINIONS; if Biden had responded like that, he would have given Xi the face-saving off-ramp he so clearly needed.
More to the point, it would’ve defused the bombs Xi is now blowing up all over the Taiwan Strait to “punish” America, in North-Korean-masturbatory fashion, for violating its sovereignty.
What a farce!
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