In this informative discussion on Breakthrough News, Brian Becker and Ken Hammond address the latest developments in US-China relations, in particular Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing and Joe Biden’s labelling of Xi Jinping as a “dictator”.
The two note that there was some short-lived optimism following Blinken’s visit that there could genuinely be scope for improving US-China relations, which are currently at their lowest ebb in half a century. Blinken had a lengthy discussion with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, as well as meeting separately with President Xi and Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat. The Chinese Foreign Ministry reported that Wang Yi reiterated China’s baseline – and entirely reasonable – demands: “that the US stop playing up the so-called ‘China threat’, lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, stop suppressing China’s scientific and technological advances, and not wantonly interfere in China’s internal affairs.” Blinken meanwhile asserted that the US is committed to “managing differences responsibly and cooperating in areas of common interests.”
However, Biden’s foolish comments about the so-called spy balloon incident, in which he referred to Xi Jinping as a “dictator”, almost immediately wiped out any goodwill resulting from the Blinken visit. Ken observes that Biden’s comment betrays the US administration’s profound hostility towards China, and its fear of China’s rise. This fear, combined with the continued need of US capitalism to engage economically with China, leads to erratic and confused statements and policies.
Brian points to certain parallels between the McCarthyism of the Cold War era and the New McCarthyism of the New Cold War, including a nasty, racist and deeply antidemocratic witch-hunt. He points out, however, that China’s integration into the global economy means that attacks on China also cause significant harm to the West. Furthermore, import restrictions on Chinese products such as solar panels lead to inflated prices for US consumers and are impeding meaningful climate action. As such, the New Cold War is damaging for ordinary people in the West.
Ken and Brian describe the US as being addicted to war, and observe that the propaganda war against China is part of a broader war drive. They call for a determined struggle against this propaganda war.
Professor Hammond’s new book, China’s Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future, is available on 1804 Books.
The FOSC intro refers to the “so-called spy balloon incident.” The photos showed a huge balloon with giant solar panels and a rudder. When tracked, the balloon sped up and slowed down. It lingered over military bases. Of course it was a spy balloon. What you going to believe, the words of FOSC or your own eyes?
Without propulsion any “rudder” is useless. A balloon simply swans along with the prevailing wind, any rudder utterly ineffective. The winds at those heights are apparently 5 to 20 knots. To move a huge balloon against those speeds would require a lot of propulsion. There was no indication that the balloon had any independent propulsion.
As neither you nor I saw the balloon with our own eyes, why should we believe any story in the US media?
Note that importantly, months after the balloon was recovered there have been no photos, no analysis, no reports, nothing at all.
If any spy devices had been found, they would have been displayed in every media channel and China accused of this, that and the other.
I very much suspect that the real story is exactly what China said, and that the 1.5 trillion dollars spent on US State security turned out to be an utter embarrassment. Which they do not want to admit to.
The spy balloon also had a propeller, turned by power from those giant solar panels. It was able to navigate locally within the limits imposed by the jet stream.
The balloon became public knowledge when a passenger on a commercial flight saw it and got a snapshot on his phone.
U.S. president Biden tried to excuse the balloon on Saturday, June 17, playing a diplomatic game. So whether there is public disclosure of what the government learned from the salvaged debris proves nothing.
The US–as the perpetrator of the crime of a shootdown–should never be allowed to confiscate the evidence. That’s why it never allowed neutral parties to see the evidence and in fact never publicly displayed any military hardware( because it would expose its absurd stupidity of spending hundreds of millions of taxes– that could help the millions of homeless in America’s “land of the free”–to gun down a civilian craft). I deed, yesterday the Pentagon admitted the balloon didn’t collect any military ” intelligence”( thus begging the question that there’s ANY intelligence in the US Military-industrial regime!)