When
the Chinese people sat down in front of their TVs at 7 p.m. Saturday,
they were disappointed to hear no report about the much-anticipated
U.S.-China meeting in Alaska. Although the event had concluded hours
earlier, state-run television omitted the topic from the day's news.
Was it positive? Was it negative? Beijing seemed unable to decide on what to say.
Meanwhile,
on Chinese social media, top diplomat Yang Jiechi was being treated as a
warrior who stood up to the rude Americans, with clips of him waving
his finger at U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken widely shared.
Bravado
aside, China apparently did not seal the one deal it wanted: an early
invitation for President Xi Jinping to visit Joe Biden's Oval Office.
June would have been ideal for Beijing, coming just before the 100th
anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's founding.
Ahead of
the key date, Xi has the difficult task of looking tough but also
showing he is a sound manager of U.S.-China relations. Those two
elements look increasingly difficult to coexist. |
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