Blinken’s Kow-Towing to Beijing Invites a Shooting War

The tradition of representatives of vassal states “kow-towing” by prostrating themselves before China emperors long predated its practice by the likes of Henry Kissinger and Bill Clinton. But it seems certain to be on display during Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s current mission to Beijing, delayed by what Joe Biden calls “the silly balloon.”

What would be truly silly – if it weren’t so dangerous – is the proposition that visits by a man of Blinken’s exceedingly limited abilities, a track record of appeasement in office and a personal history as a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s “captured” American elite would do other than reinforce Emperor Xi Jinping’s conviction that he can get away with murder, literally.

Far from making violent conflict with the CCP less likely, Team Biden’s insistence on such kow-towing “engagement” undermines our chances of deterring it.

This is Frank Gaffney.