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’’.