Deteriorating Sino/US Relations: From Engagement to Containment and Confrontation

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

On Thursday during testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee members, Pompeo continued his militantly hostile war of words on China. See below.

Commenting on his Chinaphobic remarks last week, former US diplomat who accompanied Richard Nixon on his 1972 trip to Beijing, Charles Freeman, said the following:

Pompeo's "speech…was full of factual distortions and willful misrepresentations of the past," adding: 

"It…lowered Mr. Pompeo's already very low prestige abroad and added to skepticism about the veracity of American officialdom in general." 

"Whatever this is, it is not a foreign policy but an instance of domestic demagoguery."

"Pompeo was not making a foreign policy speech or outlining a strategy for dealing with China." 

"He was speaking cathartically for all those who have bought into or might buy into the China-as-universal-scapegoat basis of Trump('s) (troubled) reelection campaign."

According to Real Clear Politics, presumptive Dem nominee Biden holds a significant lead in polls, some giving him a double-digit advantage. 

Notably he's ahead in key battleground states, including Florida and Ohio.

According to Freeman, Pompeo "made a perfunctory appeal for international support against China, knowing full well that almost no foreign nation or people would offer it."

He has his own political aspirations in mind, aiming "to position himself to succeed Trump" in 2025.

Freeman stressed that his remarks only resonated "in the minds of bigots and bullies."

"He represents no one other than the Trump cabal and its dupes and his own presumptions and ambitions."

Earlier I described Pompeo as a neocon hardliner, a messianic extremist, an evangelical Christian fascist, a Zionist ideologue, an imperial war cheerleader, an Islamophobe, Russophobe, Iranophobe, Chinaphobe, and homophobe.

His Thursday Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony featured a war of words on Iran, Russia, and as he put it: "most importantly on China."

Once again, he defied reality, calling the country "the central threat of our times (sic)."

A litany of misinformation and disinformation followed — similar to remarks last week that Charles Freeman debunked.

Insisting that South China Sea disputes "must be settled on the basis of international law, including UNCLOS (the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea)," Pompeo omitted the following:

The US repeatedly and consistently flouts international, constitutional and its own statute laws.

The US never signed UNCLOS, giving it no legal say over its implementation, no legal right to challenge maritime claims of other nations.

US hostility toward China, Russia, Iran, and other nations it doesn't control that challenge its pursuit of global dominance poses a major threat to world peace and stability.

Days earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that "not only do the tensions provoked by Washington in relations with Beijing do harm to the United States and China, but also they seriously complicate the international situation in general," adding:

The Trump regime's aim "to drag Moscow into the US campaign against China (is) another naive attempt to complicate the Russian-Chinese partnership and to drive a wedge in the friendly ties between" both countries.

"We will be strengthening cooperation with the People's Republic of China, which we view as a crucial factor for stabilization in the world."

Last Friday, Zakharova and her Chinese counterpart Hua Chunying discussed key issues affecting their countries by video call.

Both spokeswomen stressed the importance of "combatting fake news (with) accurate use of facts and compliance with legal and ethical standards" in pursuing world peace and stability, adding:

"China and Russia are major powers that pursue responsible policies and develop bilateral relations of a comprehensive partnership." 

"Both countries aim to cooperate with other nations to battle misinformation."

On Thursday, China's UK envoy Liu Xiaoming accused the Trump regime of pursuing a new Cold War with Beijing, DJT needing a scapegoat to boost his flagging reelection campaign, Liu stressed.

A new prepared for the Pentagon RAND Corporation (US-funded think tank) report titled "China's Grand Strategy: Trends, Trajectories and Long-Term Competition" said the US must prepare for an "ascendant" nation in East Asia — calling its development and prominence "the most challenging (issue) for the US military (sic)."

Bilateral relations are more dismal than any time over the past half century.

RAND dismissed a possible "close partnership" ahead, stressing that what was always unlikely now "faded from even (a) remote possibility."

The report called for increased US military involvement in the Indo/Pacific, saying:

"Because China probably will be able to contest all domains of conflict across the broad swathe of the region by the mid-2030s, the US army, as part of the joint force, will need to be able to respond immediately to crises or contingencies at various points of contention," adding:

"The Pacific theater likely will remain for the foreseeable future primarily focused on contested maritime and air domains…"

"(T)he US army must prioritize capabilities development in keeping with larger joint force objectives."

"Much of the army's focus will necessarily be on the need for land-based competitive advantage in Europe, but the long-term prominence of the China challenge will require increased investment in a range of capabilities for the Indo-Pacific as well."

"China intends to achieve military advantage from key technologies such as quantum computing and communications, artificial intelligence and biotechnology."

"Success in these and related areas will, to a great extent, determine the nature of US-PRC, and global, military competition over the next 30 years."

According to Pew Research, anti-China sentiment in the US is at a "historic high."

Nearly three-fourths of Americans view China unfavorably — proving again that propaganda works, especially when repeatedly endlessly by establishment media.

Most Americans believe managed news misinformation and disinformation they're fed regularly about other nations and issues.

They don't understand that no foreign threats to the US existed since WW II ended in 1945 — 75 years ago.

Nor do they realize that US promoted threats are invented, not real — as a pretext for spending countless trillions of dollars on militarism and belligerence at the expense of vital homeland needs gone begging.

China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and other nations on the US target list for regime change seek cooperative relations with other countries, threatening none.

Washington's imperial agenda is polar opposite, waging forever wars by hot and other means on nonbelligerent sovereign states — spending more on militarism and belligerence than all other nations combined.

While US hot war with China or Russia is highly unlikely, its rage for unchallenged global dominance by whatever it takes to achieve its aims makes the unthinkable possible.

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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"Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

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