LATEST: Biden administration officials have decided to reject a vague new assertion by China that the Taiwan Strait is not “international waters” and are increasingly concerned the stance could result in more frequent challenges at sea

Scoop with @JenniferJJacobs

https://twitter.com/petermartin_pcm/status/1535948735099744257

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the matter and his national security team is examining the Chinese claim to understand exactly what it entails, people familiar said.

Small countries across the world are watching Ukraine for lessons on how to humble a superpower

The basic lesson: Make yourself too prickly for a superpower to swallow

My latest for @BW with @hwang61 @aaroneglitis

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… “The clear lesson is: Don’t rely on indirect international pressure. You’ve got to be able to defeat the adversary’s ability to take and hold the key territory of your state,” says @ElbridgeColby

NEW: A lack of top-tier intelligence on Xi Jinping’s inner circle is frustrating senior Biden administration officials, according to current and former officials who have reviewed the most sensitive U.S. intelligence reports

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… China has always been a hard target for U.S. intelligence agencies, but many of the officials @JenniferJJacobs @nwadhams and I spoke to for this story said the problem is getting worse

There are some extraordinary examples of wasted U.S. money in Afghanistan in this @ACapaccio story

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Efforts to build up an Afghan air force included $549 million for 20 Italian-made G222 twin-turboprop aircraft

16 were left languishing in the weeds of Kabul’s international airport after maintenance issues

They were eventually sold as scrap for 6 cents a pound, or $32,000

Opinion piece in the Global Times labels the phrase "wolf warrior diplomacy" racist:

'if China's foreign policy does have some "wolfish" characteristics now, it is because the harsh external environment has forced the country to cultivate "wolfishness"'
globaltimes.cn/page/202103/12… For context, GT reporting from the very same day:

"China's 'wolf-warrior diplomacy' in Alaska meeting impresses world; behind it is the West-East battle: observers"

globaltimes.cn/page/202103/12…

You’re likely to read a lot of hot takes on the US-China talks in Alaska that explain China’s behavior in terms of Xi's “overreach”

That’s a fine explanation, but only takes us part of the way. The truth is: China’s had wolf warriors as long as the PRC has had diplomats. THREAD Here’s a taste:

Time magazine described a speech one Chinese diplomat delivered at the United Nations in 1950 as "two awful hours of rasping vituperation"

In the 1960s, a Chinese diplomat wielded an axe outside the Chinese mission in London

SO: the U.S. and China are bickering over whether the upcoming meetings in Alaska should be called a “strategic dialogue”

The U.S. says they shouldn't. China insists they should.

Why, you may wonder, does either side care about something so trivial? My thoughts:

THREAD First off, here’s Blinken’s description to members of Congress on Wednesday:

“This is not a strategic dialogue -- there’s no intent at this point for a series of follow-on engagements”

That seems clear enough, right?

Beijing's reaction to the Biden win has been pretty muted. Here's what we know so far:

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… MOFA gave mostly vague answers at a daily briefing on Monday, saying that it hoped the new admin would “work in the same direction as us going forward” -- but sidestepping questions about trade, what moves China expected from Biden and Beijing’s stance on relations with the U.S.

Some thoughts on the Fiji fight.

How could such a bizarre series of events occur?

The first thing to understand is that there’s no such thing as a low-stakes event when it comes to Chinese diplomacy.

Especially if it involves Taiwan 1/

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… The 100+ memoirs of Chinese diplomats I read for my book are littered with lengthy anecdotes about expelling Taiwanese representatives from trade fairs and receptions

These stories are often portrayed as the pinnacle of the person's career: Protecting China from a rogue flag 2/

So you're going crazy under lockdown?

I know the feeling. I've been in Beijing for the last two months. My housemate is away and I'm thousands of miles from my family.

I have some thoughts on how to make lockdown better. These won't apply to everyone, but they ring true for me: 1) Know things will get better.

The first few weeks felt pretty oppressive, but now I'm kind of used to it.

Even if the lockdown goes on longer than expected, you'll get used to your new environment and likely grow more comfortable with your own company.

"We're going to take the red spirit we learned here back to each of our kindergartens"

I travelled to Jinggangshan to learn about why the CCP is pushing red tourism and how the lines between loyalty to the party and loyalty to Xi are increasingly blurred

bloomberg.com/news/features/… I took a special ‘red train’ from Beijing direct to Jinggangshan

It featured displays on party history and the staff had all been trained to sing red songs

Many of those riding were from the party committees of private companies, SOEs and from local governments