U.S. climate envoy, John Kerry, arrived in Shanghai on April 14 laden with expectations of millions who supported President Joe Biden because he promised a cooperative approach to dealing with global problems like climate change.
“The Longer Telegram” (TLT), a foreign policy document published by the Atlantic Council, reinforced these hopes, proposing that the Biden administration approach China by carefully distinguishing U.S. “red lines” from less critical areas and even demarcating climate change as an area of cooperation. The NATO-related think tank’s commitment to Henry Kissinger-style realism, a worldview focused on the realities of power, also appeared refreshing after the unhinged militarism and unilateralism of the last two decades.
However, a powerful undertow appears to be pulling the U.S. towards an aggressive China stance. The TLT approach was already falling apart at the high-level U.S.-China talks in Alaska. Although Secretary of State Antony Blinken practically quoted TLT when he said that the U.S.’s China stance will be “cooperative when it should be, collaborative where it can be and adversarial only when it must be,” the talks broke down in acrimony.
Now, even before Kerry stepped foot in China, the aggressive slip was showing below the realist skirts.
Read the full article on CGTN.