US ratchets up pressure on China ahead of Blinken visit

UNITED STATES Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reportedly set to warn that Washington will take punitive steps against China over its "weapon-related exports to Russia" during his visit to the East Asian country this week. Observers say the rhetoric, in addition to the recent hype of "overcapacity" regarding exports of Chinese new energy product and numerous restrictions slapped on Chinese high-tech industries, shows that the US has been ratcheting up pressure on China in a wider range of military, economic and trade fields.

The recent bizarre narratives on China are all essentially disguises to justify the US weaponizing economic issues, in order to shift the blame away from the Biden administration's policy failures, analysts pointed out. While those moves are somewhat typical US tactics of aggression first and backing off later, analysts said the amassing of more Washington-instigated "negative factors" will create more discords in bilateral relations, which remain "extremely fragile" despite certain progress toward stabilization.