National Review "It’s not often that Washington’s accommodation of Beijing’s wishes takes the form of something approximating an actual kowtow.
"But that’s what seemed to take place this weekend in the Chinese capital as Janet Yellen met Chinese vice premier He Lifeng. In a video from the start of their meeting, Yellen bows three times as she shakes the hand of He, who stands straight up.
"The Treasury secretary spent two days there, meeting senior Chinese officials for talks on the bilateral economic relationship. But her overarching goal in making the trip was to continue the administration’s apology campaign. High-ranking U.S. officials have made a series of visits to Beijing to jumpstart diplomatic exchange after China’s government withheld it in retaliation for America’s handling of the deliberate Chinese provocation of the spy balloon.
"The White House has also made significant policy concessions, including delays of human-rights sanctions and export controls. This new stance secured a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese general secretary Xi Jinping last month. And later this month, John Kerry, the special climate envoy, will make his own trip to Beijing.
"While Yellen said at the end of her trip that she had discussed China’s crackdown on America’s firms, Chinese firms’ shipping of matériel to the Russian military, and human-rights abuses, her tone was mostly conciliatory.
"Notably, Yellen said that the two sides agreed to set up a channel where Chinese officials can raise U.S. actions that they view as concerning so that “we can explain and, possibly in some situations, respond to unintended consequences of our actions if they’re not carefully targeted.' ” . . .
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. . ."Why? Because Mr. Biden is the worst American president in decades. He makes his former boss, President Barack Obama, look like a resounding success by comparison (he wasn’t). Not since the Jimmy Carter era have Americans been “led” by such a stunningly incompetent, utterly ineffectual and downright pitiful administration, and that may be harsh to Mr. Carter (it isn’t).
"Whether you support former President Donald Trump or not, good-faith Americans can agree: What we have on our hands now is a national travesty. The Biden administration is a comedy of errors that isn’t funny. Mr. Biden’s first term has not been measured by successes, but rather by record-breaking milestones that were once unimaginable.
"Let’s run through the numbers: Americans are most concerned about the U.S. inflation rate, and that rate is at its highest point since 1980. The border crisis is at its worst state in more than two decades. Violent crime is more rampant now than in years past, while record-low numbers of Americans are satisfied with government efforts to address it (24%, to be exact.) Then there’s Afghanistan, where American citizens still remain stranded after one of the most infamous foreign policy blunders in recent memory.
"And, on top of that, Mr. Biden has handled the COVID-19 pandemic worse than his predecessor, whose administration ramped up vaccine production and handed Democrats a silver platter. This, after Biden promised to stop the virus and not to mandate vaccines.
"Need I go on? On every single metric, the Biden administration is failing. . ."