Has China issued an ultimatum to the US or has it issued another warning?

МОСКВА, 03 августа 2021, Институт РУССТРАТ. The domestic central media did not pay much attention to the talks held on July 26 between representatives of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the US State Department. One serious article can be found at Kommersant, and the second, more detailed, at the agency "Eurasian Strategies". However, none of them fully reflects the view of the past negotiations from the Chinese side, and it is from this point of view, in my opinion, that it is worth evaluating the prospects of US-Chinese relations. The article from the Kommersant publication, with the subtitle "Washington and Beijing agree on the rules of rivalry", indicated that the negotiations held in the Chinese city of Tianjin between the first Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Feng, although they became another session of mutual accusations, but still turned out to be not as scandalous as the previous negotiations in Anchorage. The fact is that the Chinese diplomat put forward a number of demands to the United States, for example: to lift visa restrictions for members of the Chinese Communist Party and their families, sanctions against Chinese leaders, officials and government departments, as well as visa barriers for Chinese students. In the material of the Eurasian Strategies agency, the past negotiations were evaluated more from the position of the United States, and emphasis was placed on the "three pillars" of American policy towards China. The first of which is "building communication channels", the other two are "investing in ourselves", which will increase the competitiveness of the United States, and "working with allies and partners" in order to develop and strengthen international "rules" for the implementation of US interests in the region. We wrote earlier that "the United States is radically changing its strategy towards China" with reference to the Deputy Assistant to the US President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Region, member of the National Security Council (NSC) Kurt Campbell and Laura Rosenberger, Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director of the NSC Department for China and Taiwan, who said the above-mentioned details of the strategy towards China during a special conference. The publication of the agency "Eurasian Strategies" mentioned that in China, apparently, the new approach is rejected. The Chinese side outlined the problems of bilateral relations, and presented two lists, one of which included "unfair practices" of the United States against Beijing, and the second was made up of individual cases that cause particular concern in Beijing. Against this background, the American delegation's assessments of the effectiveness of the negotiations turned out to be very restrained. Wendy Sherman said after the visit: "We will see what actions will be taken in the future and whether it is possible to take the next step. At such early stages of building relationships, it is impossible to say whether we will be able to achieve everything we hope for. I hope that we can achieve results." As a response to this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijiang is quoted as saying: "The United States should immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs, stop harming China's interests, stop crossing red lines and playing with fire, and stop building a bloc confrontation under the pretext of values." I suggest going deeper into the assessment of the situation by the Chinese side. Of particular interest are the articles on the website of the popular Chinese messenger WeChat, designed for ordinary Chinese, of course, in Chinese. The first article is called "The United States must change its arrogance and overbearing behavior." It pointed out that at that time, the negotiations between representatives of China and the United States that had just begun were not only an opportunity for personal contact and dialogue between the countries, but also an opportunity to avoid a serious confrontation: "China and the United States have different interests, the struggle will be acute and no other option is expected. Washington should assess the situation and recognize this." The article points out that China has always proceeded from good intentions in Sino-American relations. With the arrival of President Donald Trump, everything has changed fundamentally, and President Joe Biden has changed his rhetoric towards China at least a little, however, the US actions on the contrary have become" more insidious and cunning, methods of intimidation, courting America's Asia-Pacific and European allies and attempts to encourage others to join the US international strategic alliance against China have become more vicious." The US' anti-Chinese policy in Asia has initially been a failure, the authors of the article write. Due to the fact that prospective partners are very far away, and the United States itself is not very popular in the region. To illustrate, there is an article in the Asia Times "Wake up, America: The world just isn’t that into you", which indicates that the United States has lost the fight for Nord Stream 2, is fleeing Afghanistan and Iraq, has lost its leading positions in the field of advanced technologies, in particular, in the field of 5G, and even Europeans look with disgust at the American version of Mao's cultural revolution, when the “awakened” equivalent of Red Guards conducts self-criticism sessions to get confessions of racism, homophobia, and the like. At the first talks in Anchorage, the United States initially tried to dominate and suppress China, but received a decisive rebuff, the article says: "Relations between China and the United States have changed a lot, and it is unlikely that the wind and waves will subside if Washington does not correct its evil deeds and become a Buddha. However, Washington will not fix this either in the past, now, or in the future, and only on the day when the United States completely loses, they will admit their defeat." The authors of the material did not ignore the fact that Deputy Secretary of State Sherman had previously visited Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, and during her visits threatened that the United States would respond to actions that threaten them and their allies or partners in the South China Sea and Taiwan: "The United States is provoking disagreements, misinforming and discrediting China, even provoking threats to China's territorial integrity, national sovereignty and security, constantly trampling on the “red lines" - the main interests of China, which have long been outlined, in an attempt to hinder the legitimate development of China. In such a depressing situation, how can Sino-American relations be stable?" The article concludes that today's China is no longer poor and weak, and is not under the negative influence of foreign states. China not only has a growing power, but also has a moral appeal, unlike the United States with its military adventures. The United States cannot help but be tough because time and the general situation are no longer on their side. "However, if the American side continues to speak from the so-called position of strength, continues to persistently adhere to the thinking of the Cold War, zero-sum games and ideological prejudices, and also continues to adhere to anti-Chinese positions and moods, this will lead to nothing," the authors write and therefore advise Sherman to "straighten her mind, correct her behavior, and not be complacent and condescending." The most interesting article is based on the results of the entire visit of Wendy Sherman. It is called "'Three extreme lines' China in Sino-American relations". At the very beginning of this article, it is indicated that the negotiations in Tianjin ended for Sherman without the expected results, since China has long made it clear that it is impossible to conduct dialogue with China based on the position of the “teacher”. The publication says that although both China and the United States published information about a tough confrontation before, during and after the talks, the final statement and assessment was about the same as after the talks in Anchorage, that is, both sides said that the talks were frank, deep, constructive and useful. However, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Feng noted at the meeting with Sherman that the US' trilateral approach of competition, cooperation and confrontation is a "cover" for deterring China. "Confrontation and deterrence are the essence, cooperation is a temporary measure, competition is a discursive trap. The US asks for cooperation when it needs China. They block and impose sanctions against China in those areas where it has advantages, supporting conflict and confrontation at any cost in order to suppress China. It seems that the United States thinks only about solving the problems that are important to it, about getting the results it wants and gaining unilateral benefits. They do bad things and expect good results. How is this even possible?"  Xie Feng declared. The authors of the article write that Washington is always self-confident, allowing it to talk to China “from a position of strength”, but the Chinese will never buy it. During the talks, Xie Feng said that no one should underestimate the determination, firm will and ability of the Chinese people to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity: "This powerful statement, said clearly, is another serious warning to the United States that Washington must change its course!". The article states that Xie Feng also submitted two lists of pretensions to the United States, one of 16, and the second of 10 points. The Biden administration should take this extremely seriously, respond rationally, otherwise Sino-American relations will not improve. The authors of the article ask the question: "If these problems caused by the United States are not resolved, then what should the dialogue between China and the United States be about?" and give Joe Biden advice: "assess the situation, show courage, common sense and properly build Sino-American relations, otherwise the United States can only ask for trouble." Also, the publication openly ridicules the US attempt to build an anti-Chinese alliance in the so-called Indo-Pacific region. According to the authors, the countries of the region will not follow the States, as this is contrary to their own interests. The visits of the head of the State Department Anthony Blinken to India, the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines will be wasted and will not lead to the creation of an anti-Chinese alliance. Next, Wendy Sherman is advised to convey to the US leadership the three extreme lines in US-Chinese relations, voiced by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, so that the relations between the two countries "do not spiral out of control". Firstly, the United States should not challenge, denigrate or even try to discredit the path and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Secondly, the United States should not try to interrupt or even slow down the development process of China, "since modernisation is not an American dictatorship." Thirdly, the United States should not encroach on China's national sovereignty, much less undermine its territorial integrity. "We urge the American side to respect its obligations and act cautiously with regard to Taiwan. China has the right to use any means in this matter," the authors write. The article ends with the words that the era of US attempts to intimidate China has long passed. If the United States continues to unnecessarily project the image of the enemy on China, China will only be able to give a resolute rebuff. "The Washington authorities should not make strategic mistakes!". Thus, if we look at the past negotiations from the point of view of the Chinese side, they were much more important than the scandalous negotiations in Anchorage. This time, China issued an ultimatum to the United States and demanded that it change its course, otherwise relations will "spiral out of control". Whether this is really an ultimatum, or just a "last Chinese warning" designed for a domestic audience, we will find out in the coming months.