Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making an official visit to China this weekend, drawing ire from those who rightly call out Beijing's Chinese Communist Party-led genocidal government, brazen espionage to steal technology and sensitive information, and general flaunting of international standards governing airspace and international waters.
And there it is. Blinken going to China this week pic.twitter.com/BtURqrbnIa
— Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) June 14, 2023
"Instead of condemning the blatantly aggressive behaviors of the Chinese Communist Party, Secretary Blinken announced that he will legitimize the CCP’s continued subversion of our sovereignty with an upcoming official visit," said House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) on Friday.
"The Biden Administration’s weak actions on the global stage continue to embolden the CCP to purchase U.S. agricultural land near sensitive military installations, violate U.S. airspace, and collect intelligence against us from their recently reported installation in Cuba," Stefanik explained, ticking off a list of the CCP's nefarious actions.
Stefanik called on Secretary Blinken and the rest of the Biden administration to "immediately cease their weak and desperate pursuit of a ‘thaw’ in relations with the CCP." Offering the House GOP Conference as a contrast, Stefanik pledged that, "instead of pandering to the CCP, House Republicans will continue to work to counter CCP aggression."
Indeed, the Biden administration has not played a strong hand (if it even has one) in its dealings with China and its genocidal CCP leaders. In one notable instance, the Biden administration wasted months of time ahead of Putin's invasion of Ukraine trying to convince Beijing to talk Russia out of its plan to launch a violent siege against its neighbor.
As Townhall reported in February of 2022:
The decision to seek China's help took place "over three months" during which "senior Biden administration officials held half a dozen urgent meetings with top Chinese officials in which the Americans presented intelligence showing Russia’s troop buildup around Ukraine and beseeched the Chinese to tell Russia not to invade."
While it's unclear exactly how Biden thought begging an evil empire to help slow the roll of another evil empire might go, it didn't go well. China told Biden to buzz off and unsurprisingly ran to tell Moscow about the Biden administration's plan that did little more than allow China and Russia to strengthen ties with each other — and that's more bad news for the United States.
Combine that display of weakness with President Joe Biden's demonstrated inability to correctly explain what the U.S. position would be if China invaded Taiwan, and it's no wonder President Xi is feeling emboldened.
One of Stefanik's fellow House Republicans, Rep. Mike Gallagher from Wisconsin, warned in The Wall Street Journal this week that "the siren song of engagement invariably leads to appeasement in the face of foreign aggression."
"In keeping with its strategy of cooperation, Washington won’t pursue defensive measures because it fears such moves might provoke Beijing and endanger détente," Gallagher continued. "Our leaders are shelving vital policy actions—such as ending export licenses to Huawei, applying sanctions against party officials responsible for the Uyghur genocide, and releasing details on the downed spy balloon—because they’re concerned with how the party might react."
That sort of appeasement and willful ignorance of China's malign acts and intentions will only make the current situation worse, Gallagher noted. "Each day that goes by without these measures, we grow weaker and communist China grows stronger."