ANALYSIS โย No, it's not a surprise. As Phelim Kine at Politico's China Watch newslettersย points out: โThe Biden administration's efforts to enlist Chinese government support to isolate and punish Russia for its Ukraine invasion have hit a brick wall.โ
Sadly, this is par for the course with President Biden's visibly bumbling ineptitude and his NatSec teams' general weakness toward U.S.ย adversaries. And it doesn't portend well for his flailing China policy. (RELATED: Russian Military Ignore Calls From Milley and Austin)
Kine notes that China is keeping up its full-scale collusion with Russia and is rejecting any serious role in engaging with their ally, Russian leader โVlad the Invader' Putin,ย to end his brutal, unprovoked war against Ukraine; a war that bothย the European Unionย and theย U.S. State Departmentย claim have included war crimes.
Since Biden's fruitless call with Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping on Friday,ย Politico explains:
โฆthe Chinese government has doubled down on messaging its unwillingness to help stop the slaughter in Ukraine. In an appearance onย CBS' โFace the Nationโย on Sunday, Ambassador to the U.S.ย Qin Gangย said China will maintain โnormal trade, economic, financial, energy cooperation with Russia.โ
And while Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, claims that so far there are no indications that China has provided military aid to Russia, others are more skeptical. (RELATED: US and European Allies Have โVery Reliable' Intel That China May Send Russia Military Aid)
โOf course, they're going to give arms to the Russians. That's what that [Chinese statement] means,โ said retired Army General H.R. McMaster, national security advisor under Presidentย Trump, at a media roundtable Monday at the Hoover Institution, reported Politico.
China's recalcitrant pro-Russian position, and Biden's inability to move them, is thankfully provoking a public and (mostly Republican) congressional backlash that includes a slew of new initiatives to deter China from backing Russia's war machine.
These GOP efforts will also include punitive measures such as stiff economic penalties if Beijing does help Putin. Politicoย reported:
Republican Sens. Marco Rubioย and Rick Scott of Florida and Todd Youngย of Indiana channeled some of that exasperation with theirย Crippling Unhinged Russian Belligerence and Chinese Involvement in Putin's Schemes (CURB CIPS) Actย designed to block China from providing Russia financial system access to evade Western sanctions.
Those tools include theย Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, China's domestic version of the SWIFT interbank transfer system that the U.S. and its allies earlier this monthย blocked some Russian banksย from accessing, and Russia'sย System for Transfer of Financial Messages. โ[CURB CIPS Act] would freeze or terminate any U.S.-based accounts connected to Chinese financial institutions โ or block the U.S.-based property of such institutions โ that engage in transactions with a Russian financial institution using either CIPS or SPFS,โย a statementย issued by Rubio's office said.
And that's just for starters. Possible Chinese economic or material support for the Ukraine invasion has prompted Rep. Scott Perryย (R-Penn.) to make a renewed push for House Foreign Affairs Committee support for his H.R. 5286ย Protecting Americans from Corporate Human Rights Abusers Act. That legislation will curtail Chinese state firms' access to U.S. capital markets.
But there's more, notes Politico.ย Rep.ย French Hillย (R-Ark.), a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, is working to get approval of hisย Special Drawing Rights Oversight Actย as another way to keep Chinese currency, the renminbi, out of Putin's hands to fund his war.
Hill's bill, introduced earlier this month, will limit the U.S. Treasury Department's ability to approve funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that could benefit hostile regimes, including Russia.
โI think it's time for us to recognize that to get at Russia, there are elements of our policies that have to touch China,โ McMaster added,ย accordingย to Politico. โWe can't let China get away with this double-speak with their engagement, calling on all parties โto respect sovereignty' โ it is time for us to be really tough on the Chinese Communist Party.โ
Yes, it's time for the U.S. to play hardball with communist China over Putin's war, and everything else, and it appears it will take a Republican Congress to do what team Biden can't seem to accomplish. (RELATED: China's Ukraine Reaction Putting Its Citizens at Risk)
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions ofย American Liberty News.
1 Comment
I new when Joe Biden got the highest office we were in for one hell of a ride. Biden started out pulling this crap by 1st stopping pipeline from going forth, now he has pulled one train wreck after another. Now i don’t give a damn about what is normal avenue of removel but this creep has to GO.