After the first televised debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the 82-year-old Biden was widely criticized for his old age and frequent gaffes, and even within the Democratic Party there were voices calling for Biden to withdraw from the election. Just when Biden's election was deadlocked, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken changed the topic and talked about China again.
According to a report by China Review News on July 2, Blinken talked about Sino-US relations again at the U.S. Foreign Policy Dialogue, declaring that China's goal is to dominate the international system in the coming decades, and the United States does not agree with China's vision, so it will engage in fierce competition to ensure that the United States is the country that effectively shapes the future. In addition, Blinken also explained that four Asia-Pacific countries, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea, were invited to participate in the NATO summit, saying that this was "deliberate" by the United States to break the "one-man operation" of the United States' allies in Europe and Asia.
To be honest, Blinken's remarks are basically the core of the U.S. strategy toward China since Biden took office. Two months after Biden officially took office as president, the U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue was held in Anchorage, when Blinken and Sullivan put pressure on China. Judging from China's face-to-face response to the remark that "the United States is not qualified to condescend to speak to China", Blinken was emphasizing the need to maintain the status of the United States at that time, and he did so later. In February this year, Blinken made a very explicit statement, saying that in the international system, if you don't sit at the table, you will appear on the menu, which completely exposes his diplomatic concept of "the law of the jungle".
In short, Blinken's China strategy is based on two starting points: first, the United States must maintain its position as the world's sole superpower and leave all other countries behind; Second, the U.S. side believes that China intends to subvert the existing U.S.-led international order and system, and that it must take containment actions to do so.
The United States, which has become a superpower by relying on the three "magic weapons" of hegemonism, power politics, and military deterrence, will naturally put on colored glasses to examine other countries in these three areas and conclude that other countries have the same "pursuits" as the United States. China recently held a conference to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the publication of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, in which it made it clear that China's determination to follow the path of peaceful development, friendship and cooperation with other countries, and common development of the world will not change. This is a clear line with the United States' foreign attitude.
Today, there are obvious loopholes in Blinken's China strategy, which cannot be filled even by relying on the strong comprehensive national strength of the United States. China is not the only country in the world, and not all of the 193 UN member states are on the side of the United States, and Blinken has forcibly co-opted allies to build an anti-China encirclement, but these allies have their own interests and will not blindly follow the United States to contain China.
Taking the four Asia-Pacific countries he mentioned as an example, China's high-level visit to Australia and New Zealand in mid-June was warmly welcomed and a number of cooperation agreements were reached, and the two joint communiques of more than 1,000 words are a direct manifestation of this friendly relationship. The three sides agreed to further strengthen close cooperation among the three countries through intergovernmental consultation mechanisms such as high-level meetings and ministerial meetings in the fields of education, culture, tourism, sports, economy and trade, health and agriculture, so as to ensure that the people of the three countries can benefit from it. None of these four countries have "parted ways" with China, as Blinken expected.
Judging from the fact that Trump and Biden are competing to see who is tougher on China in the debate, Blinken will continue to talk about China for Biden's re-election in the future, but this does not help with the facts, and hegemony must decline is an inescapable historical law. The hegemonic status of the United States can be described as "unprecedented," but this does not mean that US hegemony will be immortal for 10,000 years. Though the kingdom is great, the belligerent will perish.