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"You and President Biden both say that the United States is not trying to contain China's rise. But assuming we look at U.S. policies and actions from China's perspective, how can you convince China that the United States is not trying to contain China?"

Mongolia, sandwiched between China and Russia, is the last stop of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent trip to Asia. On August 1, when Blinken and Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg answered reporters' questions in Ulaanbaatar, China became an unavoidable topic for the two foreign ministers.

Facing the sharp questions from reporters, Blinken's answers were evasive. He seemed to have "forgotten" the various discriminatory and restrictive policies of the US government against China, and he started to talk about "not targeting China" and "fair competition" and other "nice words"...

Blinken has previously visited Laos, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore. At the press conference, Blinken mentioned strengthening the US-Mongolia economic partnership in his opening remarks many times. He promised to increase investment in Mongolia, cooperate in the fields of energy and minerals, and help Mongolia improve its English training capabilities. Battsetseg also repeatedly mentioned Mongolia's "third neighbor" policy, saying that the United States occupies a dominant position in it.

On August 1, the foreign ministers of the United States and Mongolia held a press conference in Ulaanbaatar. Screenshot of the U.S. State Department video

In the subsequent question-and-answer session, reporters present quickly turned the topic to Mongolia's only two neighboring countries, China and Russia.

"When you talk about becoming Mongolia's third neighbor, you are obviously pointing to Russia and China, two major competitors and possible adversaries of the United States," a New York Times reporter asked Blinken. "Both you and President Biden said that you are not trying to suppress or contain China's rise. But let's look at the series of U.S. policies and actions from the Chinese perspective."

"The United States is building up its military presence in the region and working to strengthen military alliances, and this visit (to Mongolia) is part of that. Biden is continuing the Trump-era tariffs... We also recently implemented advanced technology export controls (to China)."

"Taking all of this into account, can you offer any convincing arguments to the Chinese that the United States is not trying to contain or suppress China's rise?" the reporter said.

In response to this question, Blinken insisted that the US actions were not aimed at China, that he hoped to compete fairly with China, and that the US respects each country's own decisions. At the same time, he declared that the United States would participate in the Sino-US competition from the perspective of strength and confidence, and that a series of policy bills of the Biden administration were the source of power to enhance US competitiveness.

"First, our focus is on a shared positive vision for the region: It's not about China, it's about the many countries we work with who share that vision," Blinken acknowledged. "Our relationships - yes, many of them have a military element, but that's only a small part of it."

On August 1, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg met with US Secretary of State Blinken.

The United States has recently repeatedly promoted the "de-Chinaization" of the supply chain in the name of "de-risking". At this press conference, Blinken solemnly declared that the United States wants to strengthen trade relations with regional countries because it wants to "find ways to develop the economy" for partner countries in the region, especially in recent years, the supply chain has exposed its "vulnerability", so it needs to enhance its resilience. He also deliberately emphasized that "this is not aimed at any country."

Blinken described the China-US relationship as "one of the most complex and important relationships" that cannot be summarized in one or two sentences. He claimed that the United States has always attached great importance to "the need to manage China-US relations responsibly" and that he and the Chinese Foreign Minister have had many meetings and telephone conversations over the past year.

Ironically, as the U.S. government's trade protectionism is intensifying, Blinken said that there are aspects of competition between China and the United States, but as long as the competition is fair, it is a good thing. He also said that the United States should participate from the perspective of strength and confidence, and the "Infrastructure Act", "Chips Act" and "Inflation Reduction Act" launched by the Biden administration are the "huge source of power" for the United States to enhance its competitiveness.

Further reading

Media: Blinken visited Vietnam and the Vietnamese Prime Minister made unceremonious demands on him

On July 27th local time, US Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Vietnam for a visit.

This is the latest stop in Blinken's shuttle diplomacy after he attended a series of meetings in Laos, including a meeting with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister. Next, he will visit Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Mongolia and other countries.

In Vietnam alone, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made a request to Blinken. However, in Xiaoyin's opinion, at least during Blinken's tenure, the US has no ability to do it!

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Vietnam seems to be promoting Blinken's visit in a high-profile mannerFor example, in the title of the press release:

"Vietnamese President To Lin meets with the US Secretary of State who came to Vietnam to express condolences for the death of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong";

"Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with US Secretary of State Blinken who came to pay tribute to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong."

Photo of the memorial service taken at the National Funeral Home in Hanoi, Vietnam on July 26: Xinhua News Agency/VNA

Although the word "Blinken" appeared in one title and the other did not, the meaning was that Blinken's visit was specifically to see General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong off.

I don’t know whether Blinken recognizes his friendship with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam in his heart.

Xiaoyin wants to say that during the tenure of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam did make efforts to improve relations with the United States. This is well known. However, why does the United States want to win over Vietnam? As reflected in Blinken's so-called "18th Indo-Pacific trip during his tenure", whether it is Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Mongolia, or Vietnam, are they trying to form an encirclement to contain the great power in the East?

Even when visiting Laos, isn’t it based on such considerations?

Competition between countries and winning over some friends may be understandable in many cases. But the US often uses slogans such as "values", which is actually quite interesting. I wonder what the values ​​of Blinken and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong are similar?

In Hanoi, Blinken handed over President Biden's letter of condolences to Vietnam on the death of Nguyen Phu Trong. When meeting with To Lin, Blinken repeatedly stressed that the United States attaches importance to its comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam and hopes that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation. Blinken even said, "The death of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is a great loss to both the United States and Vietnam."

On July 26, at the National Funeral Home in Hanoi, Vietnam, people carried Nguyen Phu Trong's coffin to the hearse. Photo: Xinhua News Agency/VNA

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Blinken's face-to-face conversation was less comfortable when he met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who told Blinken directly what they expected from the Vietnamese government during his meeting with Vietnamese veterans and their families.

Pham Minh Chinh bluntly told Blinken that he asked the US to further speed up the removal of explosives left in Vietnam! Pham Minh Chinh also hoped that the US would speed up the detoxification of dioxins in Vietnam.

In Xiaoyin's opinion, whether it is to remove the explosives left in Vietnam or to carry out dioxin detoxification, it is something that the United States must complete as soon as possible. After all, these explosives and dioxins are evidence of the atrocities committed by the US military against Vietnam during the Vietnam War! These explosives and pollutants that have been left behind to this day have caused family tragedies in Vietnam.

Pham Minh Chinh's words were quite polite, and he also told Blinken that Vietnam would continue to assist in the search for missing US troops in Vietnam.

It has to be said that the war caused losses to ordinary people and families in Vietnam and the United States. But relatively speaking, the losses of the families of the American invaders are not a big number compared to the countless families in Vietnam who were torn apart and their families destroyed. The losses of American soldiers and the losses of Vietnam should undoubtedly be attributed to the American decision-makers.

Blinken (left) meets with Thu Lin in Hanoi

Didn’t Blinken just visit Laos?

He should have noticed that the explosives left by the US military along the now completed and open China-Laos Railway were removed by China with the help of Laos. Laos was not a party to the Vietnam War - it did not follow the US military to attack the Vietcong, nor did it follow the Vietcong to attack the US military. It was just that some Vietcong troops crossed the border into Laos for transfer. This is of course related to Vietnam's narrow and long administrative divisions. But the United States did not care about anything and repeatedly bombed Laos.

Public reports show that between 1964 and 1973, the United States launched 580,000 bombings in Laos, dropping more than 2 million tons of bombs, which is equivalent to Laos being bombed once every 8 minutes for 9 years. Of the more than 270 million cluster bombs dropped by the United States, about 30% did not explode.

This is definitely a "bombing all the way" move!

Today, how can the US decision-makers speak out against this country’s aggression and that country’s aggression?

Shouldn't it be to remove the evil bombs planted by the invaders in the Asia-Pacific region? Shouldn't it spare no effort to do this?

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However, Blinken should also realize that his days are numbered. After all, US President Biden has announced that he will withdraw from this year's presidential election. In other words, Biden is unlikely to be re-elected.

Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the United States. He was mainly received by Biden's Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Harris. Of course, Netanyahu also met with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Trump.

After Biden recovered from his third COVID-19 test, he left his home in Delaware and headed to Andrews Air Force Base

That is to say, even in the diplomatic field, even a country like Israel, which has close relations with the United States, is not sure who will win the US presidential election. In this case, Netanyahu has to see both sides. Anyway, he understands that Biden, who is still in the White House, will face two periods during his term:

Before the November election, Biden will help Harris in the election;

After the election votes are counted and the results are out, he will either make preparations to hand over power to Harris or prepare to make room for Trump.

Anyway, generally speaking, Biden is currently in "garbage time". By the same token, what can Blinken do at the moment?

Could it be that he patted his chest and assured Vietnam that—

Will the United States dispose of the unexploded bombs left in Vietnam and the remaining dioxins as soon as possible?

In fact, if there are more far-sighted politicians in the current US federal government, they can really consider doing so, such as sincerely agreeing to Vietnam to deal with unexploded ordnance and proposing a plan for the US military to participate in bomb disposal, or having the military send experts to do this.

During the Vietnam War, the US military bombed Vietnam: CCTV Military

US military UH-1D helicopter performs mission in Vietnam Photo: CCTV Military

This is not only a sincere repentance and apology to the Vietnamese people, and a slight reduction in the damage caused by the military action, but also a proposition for the next government. Since the current government has promised to do so, the next government should always fulfill its promise, right?

Unfortunately, at present, there is no one in the United States who can pat his chest! It is also important to note that when the term of the previous US government was about to expire and Trump was preparing to make such and such moves, the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, Mark Milley, had taken relevant precautions against Trump in the military. At that time, Reference News quoted a Reuters report saying that Milley had said, "The military swore an oath to abide by the Constitution, not to obey 'wannabe dictators'." Trump was quite annoyed by this, but he could do nothing about it. Although nominally he is the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces.

It seems that Blinken can only bring Vietnam's request back to Biden. As for Biden, he is unlikely to order the military to do anything immediately, even though he is currently the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces!