What Was John Kerry Doing in Russia and China?

Written by Frank Li

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, recently visited Russia and China, respectively. What was he doing over there? While diplomacy and dialogues are always important, there is no better example than these two visits to demonstrate our inept foreign policy. Follow my reasoning …

1. John Kerry in Russia

This is a good article about Mr. Kerry’s visit to Russia: Why Is John Kerry in Russia? Here is an excerpt:

Press reports have indicated that Kerry’s diplomatic agenda will include gauging Russia’s flexibility on issues like Ukraine, Moscow’s controversial delivery of an advanced air-defense system to Iran, and whether Assad’s growing battlefield difficulties may impact Russia’s alliance with the Syrian dictator.

My take on Russia’s flexibility on these three issues:

1. Ukraine: Russia won’t alter its current policy on Ukraine. Why not? Because it was primarily the West’s fault for the current situation in Ukraine! For more, read: For America, AIIB and Ukraine Are Related!
2. Iran: Russia will continue to support Iran in every way possible. Why? To balance the power in that region at the expense of the U.S.!
3. Syria: Russia will continue to support Assad. Why? For the same reason as for Iran! “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.†Clearly, Putin views the U.S. as his enemy.

Bottom line: Russia is one of our chief competitors! Because of that, our interest often goes against Russia’s, as in all three cases discussed above.

2. John Kerry in China

This is a good article about Mr. Kerry’s visit to China: Neither China nor US giving ground over projects dispute. Here is an excerpt:

China and the United States are budging not a bit over Beijing’s assertive development in disputed parts of the South China Sea, with Chinese officials politely but pointedly dismissing Washington’s push for U.S.-proposed ways to ease tensions.

What’s remarkable about this visit is that John Kerry met with “everybody in Chinaâ€, each of whom offered a different key message to Mr. Kerry:

1. Foreign Minister Wang Yi: “You are not here to fight, are you?”
2. Premier Li: “Let’s cooperate more.”
3. President Xi: “The Sino-American relationship is solid … The U.S. should treat China as an equal in international affairs.”
4. Chinese Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission General Fan Changlong: It was an unusual meeting at an unusual time, with China going an extra mile to send the U.S. an extra message that need not be presented or explained here.

Bottom line: China is an emerging superpower, with both the desire and the need to expand its influence globally. The U.S. should accept it and adapt accordingly, rather than repeating the same mistake as in the case of the AIIB. Specifically, the U.S must not be overly obsessed with the South China Sea! For more, read: For America, AIIB and Ukraine Are Related!

3. Discussion

America does not have any cohesive, viable foreign policy of its own! Instead, our foreign policy is a summary of various individual schemes driven by various interest groups, such as the MIC (Military Industrial-Complex) and Israel. As a result, we are poorly positioned everywhere in the world, especially in the Middle East (Meet the College Democrat Who Told Jeb Bush: “Your Brother Created ISIS”). Yet, we continue to look for, and sometimes even create, new trouble spots to keep our military and diplomats busy … Still wondering why Mr. Kerry oftentimes acts as if he were John McCain’s Secretary of State (e.g. Ukraine)? Wonder not! He doesn’t know what he is doing!

In contrast, both Russia and China not only have their well-contrived foreign policy, but also keep executing them very well.

Bottom line: what is the net result of Mr. Kerry’s two visits? Nothing! Busy for nothing, if not for negatives!

Poor John, why do you want this job of the Secretary of State? Over the past two and a half years, you have not had a single memorable achievement, but America, on your watch, has become an even worse laughing stock in the world!

Poor John, what are you doing? If you can’t even ride a bike (John Kerry breaks leg in bicycle crash in France), how can you possibly hope to ease the world’s tensions? Hopefully you will recover from the bike accident soon, but when will your self-deception end?

Think, America, on a truly global scale!

The new Russia-China alliance is already a formidable challenge to us, and it will only become more so in the coming years! For one significant example, read: Bond forged under sanctions.

4. Closing

America, reform our political system as I have suggested, or become an also-ran, second to China!