What a joke, what a crime, what a miscarriage of diplomacy, what a failed summit between President Biden and China’s President Xi. What occurred in San Francisco last week – dubbed “successful” – was the worst face-to-face between an American president and a US adversary in 75 years, since Yalta.
Why? Half a dozen reasons, but let’s start from the top. In a strange twist – a complete show of disrespect to Biden – China’s President Xi refused for weeks to accept a phone call from Biden.
If that was odd, when Xi finally took the call, Biden reading a cue card, Xi refused to offer anything, only agreeing to come to San Francisco to meet US business leaders – who he charged money to meet – then briefly after that sitting with Biden.
Biden’s team got on a knee to get those meetings reversed and had Xi meet Biden before meeting US business leaders, whom Xi charged $2000 a plate. Who says communists are not closet capitalists?
To accommodate the San Francisco venue, Biden had to have the self-absorbed, narcissistic Democrat governor of California – and flailing leftist mayor – put (literally) $100 million into “cleaning up” the trashed city – hiding illegal aliens, drug traffickers, homeless camps, garbage.
Some may remember the old “Potemkin Village” story – from Russia, creation of a “sham city” to make horrible conditions look good for elites. Have we become “they”?
Then get to the guts of this “Second Yalta.” While no treaty will follow, the Chinese leader-for-life and cardboard, card reading, barely understandable US president, was mortifying. Biden stumbled through a slurred reading, at his right a strangely scowling Secretary of State, at his left elbow an obviously bored Secretary of Treasury.
When all over, Xi pushing Biden as one would a subservient client state in ways verbal, symbolic, and physical – even looking disinterested, Biden was rolled out to speak. What did he do? Claimed victory, much as the immobile, fading, sad FDR did after Yalta.
Biden claimed a diplomatic breakthrough by reopening military and crisis lines with this “peer competitor,” and securing a promise by China to stop fentanyl trafficking.
Translation: Xi agreed to take future calls from Biden and Defense, previously ignored and made his tenth empty promise to get after fentanyl, a non-bomb killer of Americans.
Reality: Xi seems to think Biden is a stumbling dope, desperate beggar for respect, maybe also a bad actor, slack brain, little memory, with no will to be defiant, a malleable client.
Adding insult to injury, Biden tells us he excuses Xi’s spy balloons, massive affairs loitering over US military bases and ICBM fields for two weeks, before – he proudly says – he shot them down. He says President Xi can be forgiven, as he did not know about them. Um, right.
Finally, Biden did the unthinkable. He green-lighted his “friend” Mr. Xi for Taiwan, not even mentioning Taiwan by name at the press conference, on a day when the Chinese foreign ministry said they are “unstoppable” on Taiwan. Taiwan must be in shock.
This – this blundering, blind, coddling, one-act play, this skit, with cue cards and appeasement, watching our president stepped all over – passes for diplomacy? Hardly.
At risk of making readers as upset as the writer, this was a real embarrassment. If Yalta gave away Eastern Europe to the Soviets, this Yalta-light conference signaled what Xi hoped to see, a deferential president, no spine, strength of character, will or sense of his nation’s power, the sand gone, final hour.
What comes next? No one can say, but one thing we know is that this was a solid win for Communist China, another forced error, a needless loss for America. What a joke, what a crime, what a miscarriage of diplomacy, what a failed summit between Biden and Xi. Where it leads, we will now see.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
Hi RBC,
Well actually the summit went exactly as I expected it would go. The topics of discussion were exactly those that one would expect when the main goal of Team Biden is to NOT touch on any issue of real importance, but rather simply facilitate a glorified photo op showing a weakly led United States kowtowing to communist China. So, in that regard, the Biden administration accomplished its main goal in spades. No issues were brought up by the United States team that might embarrass China or President Xi or apply pressure to China in any way whatsoever to change their current course of action on any issue. Both President Xi and China came away from the meeting looking like the stronger of the two nations, with real giveaways by the United States, that no doubt will be leveraged by China in the coming weeks and months around the world.
We, the United States, got nothing of substance out of the exchange from China. More empty promises from China on curtailing fentanyl was almost laughable, if China’s actions were not contributing to killing a 100,000 Americans per year. While President Xi and China got a terrific photo op and positive press of a groveling and feeble POTUS being meekly led around by his Chinese master. As you know, imagery is a powerful tool on the diplomatic stage around the world and you can bet that China will leverage that sense of a weak and declining United States in every exchange that China conducts with other world leaders going forward.
The Biden team all showed their usual demeanor or appeasement and meekness across the board on everything discussed, so from that perspective the outcome was all but predetermined before President Xi even arrived in San Francisco. If anything, this so-called summit simply solidified the go ahead in President Xi’s mind that Taiwan is ripe for the taking in 2024.
RBC, Thank you for an honest report on the meeting with Biden and Xi. We would not have been given the background events leading up to the meeting by the main stream media; in fact, not much was said about it except some bragging about it being a good and successful meeting. I wondered how a meeting with a mumbling, incoherent Biden and a Chinese speaking Xi could be described as successful. Who understood whom?
Words can not adequately describe the sadness I feel for our nation. Biden does not represent the true character of most Americans. He is a disgrace and brings shame to our whole nation. God help us.
As an aside, you probably should have added that Xi likely only even attended because he knows the 2024 elections are coming up. He’d much rather have Biden back for another 4 years so he can complete his plans. Xi will happily put on a show and make empty promises to help Biden win reelection.
So he kissed the ring and the butt Just like FDR in Yalta There was Churchill scowling there here we only have smiles
What mystifies me is that people believed that anything good would have come from this meeting. Well…the pandas…
Sending Biden to meet Xi at APEC is the equivalent of sending your 5 year old grandchild to represent you at an IRS audit.
When one looks in Xi’s face in the photo op, you see extreme pleasure of “Gotcha again. I put one over on the old boy again.” When looking at Biden’s face, one sees “Well, I did good, protecting my Chinese interests again. To h➖ll with America.” Well-written article! So sad though.
Biden is nothing but a BUMBLING BAFOON that needs to be put out to pasture!!
Right on Summary.
Well said, Robert Charles. The TRUTH.
Hope you DEms. out there like fish heads and rice. Kyle L.
That’s how a person is treated when he is in their back pocket. He nods his head and says, “Yes sir.” Disgusting.
I never seen so much brown on Biden nose in my life , Biden is a traitor of the American people along with Obama , I never thought I would see the day that our country would be taken over from the inside out , I can’t belive how corrupt the Biden administration is , that includes the F.B.I. N.S.A. and who ever eles is in volved in this mess . We the American people sit here and watch the treasonist acts that are taken place in our nation , and nothing being done about it , Biden also has committed genocide with the open boarders killing over a hundred thousand Americans, thats just Americans , Obama is the one running the country not the puppet Biden yet this man is still president he and his administration should have been taken out of the white house in cuffs after the Afghanistan blunder , and now look where our country’s what a nightmare never thought I would see the day.
Very, very low IQ, corrupt criminal family, and the ????????”Big Guy” ????????leads the way. But just think of the low IQ, vindictive, TDS people, yeah those people, maybe 30 million, that legitimately voted for him and this S-Show! In the end We The People will always prevail, one way, or another. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Why was this meeting even allowed? Considering joes condition. Makes US look really vulnerable. Also stupid. Dear Lord help us.
Can we make it as a country with another year of this? We are at new lows…
Excellent appraisal of the malaise and weakness in our federal bureaucracy. It is a vile, repugnant and betrayal we are subjected to. We are besieged by cowardly, weak if not treasonous actors to the front, to the rear, on the left and on the right non-stop 24/7. Their massive failings might prove tolerable vacant their supreme condescension and arrogance. But they lack any measure of compassion or humility. None. Zero, yet are rife with hubris and avarice. Truly, they are the very, very worst of us.
I could agree more with you but, it would be fawning. You nailed it.
Oh Lord help us! The idiot in the Whitehouse is bringing us closer to war on multiple fronts. I am praying that the people will be able to rise up out of the mud he us putting us in and put President Trump back in office where he belongs in November. That is a long ways away tho and we will go thru a lot before then. Prepare, prepare, prepare!
Sounds like an accurate description of what happened in San Francisco.
Regarding Biden, stupid people elect stupid people!
“Spy balloons”. That media invented term is still being used months now after our own military intelligence stated there were no “spy” devices found with the downed balloon and despite every person with an IQ higher than room temperature knowing that China, like all advanced nations has numerous satellites capable of counting buttons worn by a driver behind a windshield. Also despite its “flight path” mirroring that of the jet stream indicating that it was indeed a weather balloon WE WATCHED get caught in an upper air disturbance when the balloon was still over the Pacific Ocean.
But the US just has to spend tens of millions on,in this instance, two rockets to down………an out of control weather balloon.
Yep, time to get our asses kicked again by name your country.