Cold war with Russia and China could turning hot. The risk of unthinkable war between nuclear armed states is real.

According to the Washington Post,

“(i)f  China wants to avoid an all-out cold war with the United States and its partners, it must fundamentally change its behavior,” citing Mike Pence as the source of the view expressed.

It’s a policy position Beijing strongly rejects, wanting cooperative relations with all other nations, but unwilling to bow to unacceptable demands of any – especially nothing compromising its fundamental sovereign rights.

Pence is representing the Trump regime in Singapore at the November 11 – 15 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

Major Sino/US political, economic, financial, trade and military differences persist, resolving them unlikely any time soon.

China’s Xi Jinping reportedly won’t meet Pence at the ASEAN summit. He’s scheduled to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the November 30/December 1 G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Prospects for a deal between both leaders, resolving longstanding differences are virtually nil. China rejects unacceptable US demands.

According to Pence, if Xi refuses to accept them, Washington will escalate political, economic, and perhaps military pressure on the country.

Washington’s Indo/Pacific strategy is all about seeking regional dominance by whatever it takes to achieve its aims – not an encouraging sign going forward.

According to a Washington prepared US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) report to Congress, China’s growing political, economic and military power “risk(s) the national security and economic interests of the United States, its allies, and its partners.”

It “risks” Washington’s ability to dominate the Indo/Pacific region unchallenged, wanting Russia and China marginalized, weakened, contained and isolated – a strategy doomed to fail.

The USCC report to be presented to Congress on Wednesday reportedly says China’s Belt and Road objectives include “bolstering energy security, expanding China’s military reach, and advancing its geopolitical influence by moving China to the center of the global order,” adding:

Beijing “will be quick to cast any pushback or legitimate criticism as fear, nationalism, protectionism, and racism against the Chinese people.”

China gains allies with carrots, not sticks, a winning strategy longterm:

In late October, Mike Pompeo threatened to “oppose” China economically, politically, militarily, and in bilateral trade, saying:

“Whether that’s a risk through the stealing of intellectual property or trade rules that are unfair or activity in the South China Sea or their continued expansion in space, and their efforts to develop their military, each of those actions has been met with a strong and vigorous response from the (US) and we’ll continue to do so,” adding:

Beijing’s strategy “presents risks to American interests, and we intend to oppose them at every turn.”

US policy involves pressuring other nations to deal with America, not China or Russia, economically, warning them against accepting investments from China and Russia in their countries, nor normalized trade relations, the same true for Iran.

Pompeo lied saying

“(w)hen China comes calling, it’s not always to the good of your citizens.”

Unlike one-way US investments, exploiting trading partners, Chinese investments benefit both sides equitably, why its gaining economic partners worldwide at Washington’s expense.

US efforts to undermine China, Russia, Iran, and other independent countries economically and in other ways are counterproductive. They haven’t worked before and won’t ahead. They make more enemies than allies longterm.

They’ll damage bilateral relations more than already, risking possible confrontation.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.