Esper's Mooted “China Visit” More Hegemonic Bluster, Or an Attempt to Communicate?

When Secretary of Defense Mark Esper indicated on July 21 in a video event with the British IISS that he hoped to visit China “before the end of the year”, it raised some eyebrows in Washington as well as in Beijing. As far as is known, no invitation has been extended. And there is great uncertainty whether such a visit would provide any respite from the intense anti-China campaign being conducted in an almost whole-of-government effort. If Esper were to go to China to “read them the riot act”, as he indicated in so many words he might do, one would urge him to stay at home. But if there is an effort to genuinely “establish the necessary crisis communication system” with China, which he also indicated, it could have a positive value.