Cables From The Diplomatic Frontlines: Explaining the recent rise in the US - China tensions, and what to make of Washington's ostensibly muted response?
Close calls with china: US response and how China’s “great state autism” helps Washington.
Consider these three incidents:
1) Chinese fighter jets flying (over international water) in front of a US reconnaissance plane - causing it to fly through turbulence.
2) A Chinese PLA ship’s close call with America’s Navy ship.
3) China reportedly operating a spy base in Cuba since 2019 - news breaking last week after a WSJ report (original report of future plans which turned out to have been already happening)..
Now consider the most recent headline-grabbing US conduct:
1) US State Dept officials visited China at the time of Tiananmen square massacre.
2) America’s Secretary of Defense playing hide and seek with his Chinese counterpart to extract a meeting - and all he gets in return is a mere handshake
3) Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is set to visit China in the next couple of days.
So then, why is China ostensibly amping up tensions, and why is the US apparently not responding with sufficient vigor?
(side note: the reference to ‘‘headline grabbing” in US conduct was intentional. There is a lot more going on that the media somehow fails to take into sufficient account when reporting on the most recent developments)
First things first:
Unpacking China’s possible motivations for the recent ‘‘escalation’’.
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