Nobody in the U.S. foreign policy seems to realize that China and Russia are, for the time being, good buddies. They like each other better than they like the U.S. From William McGovern at antiwar.com:
The US has thrown down the gauntlet. A showdown may come “in the coming weeks,” if sanity does not prevail.
White House and Pentagon spokesmen keep insisting, as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl did on Aug. 14:
“What’s important for us right now is to make sure that Beijing understands that our forces in the region will continue to operate, to fly, to sail wherever international waters allows. That includes the Taiwan Strait.
“I think you should expect that we will continue to do Taiwan Strait transits, as we have in the past, in the coming weeks. …”
What About President Biden?
Not to worry. To the degree it matters, he seems relaxed. On Aug. 8, after China announced new post-Pelosi-visit military drills in the seas and airspace around Taiwan, Biden expressed mild concern about China’s deployments, but spoke reassuringly to reporters:
“I’m concerned they (the Chinese) are moving as much as they are,” but I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are.”
STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC 