Commentary
If you want to make Americans uncomfortable—or desperate—don’t talk to them.
During his recent visit to China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeatedly asked his hosts to set up a military-to-military crisis communications hotline. They declined.
John Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, complained earlier this year that the Chinese ignored his requests to establish direct communications channels with the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) regional commands.
And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was rebuffed when he sought a meeting with China’s defense minister during the Shangri-La Dialogue in early June.
Top U.S. civilian and military officials may be fretting. Still, they might better worry about having too few Navy ships, submarines, or stocks of anti-ship cruise missiles instead of having their Chinese counterparts on speed dial….