Joe Biden’s comments about his two-hour phone call with Xi Jinping, in answer to prodding from Anderson Cooper in his Feb. 16 Wisconsin town hall, are worth reflecting on in light of positive steps in both the U.S. and China toward ending the dangerous potential consequences of the Pompeo et al. witch hunt against all things Chinese. Biden made clear he knows Xi very well, and indicated that they both understood where each was coming from, on questions Chinese. In his usual broken way of speaking, Biden said:
“If you know anything about Chinese history, it has always been — the time when China has been victimized by the outer world is when they haven’t been unified at home. So the central — to vastly overstate it — the central principle of Xi Jinping is that there must be a united, tightly controlled China. And he uses his rationale for the things he does based on that.
“I point out to him: No American President can be sustained as a President if he doesn’t reflect the values of the United States. And so the idea I’m not going to speak out against what he’s doing in Hong Kong, what he’s doing with the Uyghurs in western mountains of China and Taiwan, trying to end the One China policy by making it forceful — I said — …he said he gets it. Culturally, there are different norms that each country and they — their leaders — are expected to follow.
