Opinion | US defense chief is abominable - his gunboat 'Balikatan' has angered PLA
By Augustus K. Yeung
INTRODUCTION
If asked to use three words to characterize President Biden – without thinking – I'd utter, "Rationality, Rationality, Rationality." And for his predecessor, Donald J. Trump, the words would be, "Poor Impulse Control," meaning that his sense of "control" is poor and impulsive.
The implication: With Mr. Biden, for example, Beijing can afford to reason with him, however unstable the bilateral relations may be.
The essence of personality profiling, therefore, is that if this scientific knowledge is used correctly and timely, China can score a huge diplomatic victory over the mighty US military hegemony. The following case study is an illustration.
Of all the US departments, the military under Lloyd Austin's leadership is deemed by Beijing and the PLA as hawkish, violent and provocative, rather than cooperative. One simply does not see or feel coexistence in nature. He is the antithesis of Mr. Carter, former US Defense Secretary, who is best known for being urbane. And the Chinese army can hope to work for a joint drill.
As a case in point, Beijing viewed the US military department's further securing of four more Philippines bases (in addition to the five already under its control) as a sign of excessive hostility.
The American and Filipino forces pummeled a warship with a barrage of high-precision rockets, airstrikes and artillery fire in their latest largest war drills in Philippine waters facing the disputed South China Sea, further angering the highly patriotic PLA, which perceived the incident as gunboat "Balikatan".
This highly provocative naval act of aggression came after the unnecessary shooting down of a Chinese civilian "spy" balloon over US airspace, leading to PLA's refusal to accept a hotline call from Lloyd Austin, the US Defense Minister.
These latest acts of aggression and antagonism are collectively seen as unnecessary challenges to the PLA's authority, and an unmistakable provocation.
Enough is enough: The PLA has continued to resist calls for communications from Mr. Austin, whose credibility, authority and acceptability in the Chinese army has by now hit bottom.
There is a potentially volatile phenomenon in the military that Beijing and Washington must recognize, and the sooner the better: After no less than half a dozen rare and persistent diplomatic activities on the part of the Chinese president to court the friendship of Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, the Chinese "border-army" and its Indian counterparts exchanged acts of violence two years ago, leading to unexpected casualties and deaths on both sides.
Who should be held responsible? The army chiefs, not the presidents.
The fiery reactions of the Chinese army over the visit of Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with Kevin McCarthy in California should be seen as signs of patriotism on the part of the PLA. This may be a weak link as individual soldiers are faithfully geared up for the "protection of the motherland".
Without provocation, the PLA would not react violently and abruptly; however, with US excessive provocations such as the latest "Balikatan" show of shooting and violence, the chances of "sleep-walking" into crossfires between the two armies should not be overlooked.
The truth is: when we take into serious consideration the erratic and irrational behaviors of some US servicemen, especially the marines in the US army, the probability of "sleep-walking" into conflict is highly enhanced.
If an unexpected and unparalleled exchange of fires has taken place, who can predict the consequences?
The red danger signal is blinking!
The best remedy is prevention, meaning the belligerent defense chief of the US military must go.
The Chinese side is right to refuse to accept Austin's phone call. After all, what's there to talk about with an iron man who is now perceived as all machines without mind?
In all fairness, the US is not short of top-notch all-round leaders: among them, the best US leaders are John Kerry, the envoy who heads the climate change team; the soft-spoken Janet Yellen, the finance chief is another outstanding US leader; Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Adviser is another example; Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State is a rational leader whose rationality rivals and reflects that of Joe Biden, the boss.
CONCLUSION
With these named top-notch leaders, China and the US can afford to have the luxury of "talks of decoupling" because these leaders are rational. And their talks of decoupling are never meant to be vicious and physical.
The defense chief is the man who commands the mighty US military complex; he should not have inspired violence in the US army, which when met with patriotic PLA fighter pilots can easily lead to crossfires, the consequences of which could be beyond calculation.
Lloyd Austin, the chief is the identified weak link in the mighty US army; the sole strategic purpose of which should be preventive measures, not engaging counterparts in conflicts that can be avoided, or as President Joe Biden says, "strategic deterrence".
The collective perspective of the PLA is that Austin is not a US military leader that the Chinese soldiers can relate to, not to mention aspired to with professional great reverence. For example, in the PLA, their heroes are historically General George Patton and Supreme US Commander Dwight Eisenhower in World War ll.
Both China and the United States are taking a great risk – as long as this man, with the title of US army chief is around; obviously, the PLA perceives and experiences him as a persona non grata in the Biden administration, whose time has now expired.
Finally, a friendly reminder: "To achieve greater success, chaos and conflict must not happen in Asia," said Chinese Premier Li Qiang in his BOAO Forum keynote speech.
The efficient and effective leadership should be one that engages the Chinese and the US armies to joint drills.
Given this cordial atmosphere, the Chinese naval coastal guards can be more accommodating to the "intruding" Philippines fishermen, fulfilling the Chinese president's promise to Marcos, Jr.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:
Opinion | With China-India ties in limbo try a breakthrough for permanent peace
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