The Biden administration is pulling itself in a number of different directions on China as it seeks deals and is slow to press China on its human rights abuses, according to far east foreign affairs expert Gordon Chang.
President Joe Biden's climate czar John Kerry is one of the pull forces against the push to hold China accountable, Chang told Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y.
"John Kerry has been working to try to get a climate deal," Chang told host John Catsimatidis. "He's had these preliminary negotiations with China. He was seen in New Delhi talking to the Russian foreign minister.
"He's been more quiet than I thought he would be, but, John, we've got to remember that the free world is not safe when John Kerry carries a diplomatic passport."
There is some push for the U.S. to hold China accountable by threatening to boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, according to Chang.
"I think the American people are going to push the Biden administration to do something it doesn't want to do, because of the specter of mass internments, killing of minorities, mass rape, forced labor, slave labor, imprisonment of children – all this is too much for the American public," Chang added.
"So the Biden administration will eventually be forced to do something. And I think you'll see similar processes in other western countries. This is going to be extremely controversial up until the moment the games begin in February of next year."
China's malign influence extends beyond its mainland, Chang noted.
"Of most concern is China's military moves against Taiwan," he said. "There are almost daily incursions [by] Chinese aircraft into Taiwan's air defense identification zone. At this moment, China's first aircraft carrier and its support ships are circling around Taiwan. There's more and more pressure here."
Also, "China is tightening down on Hong Kong" in an effort to "decapitate the democracy movement," according to China.
"Beijing is testing the Biden administration's reaction," he said. "If the Biden administration isn't resolute, I think we could very well see more [aggression] against Taiwan."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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