Blinken's China Trip Further 'Weakened US Deterrent'

The last time Antony Blinken went to China it was delayed, came in the wake of spy balloons wafting over the United States and was riddled with images of the secretary of state semi bowing to Xi Jinping, sitting off to the side of the Chinese president and ended with the communist nation announcing it would conduct military training in Cuba.

Nearly a year later, another trip to China last week doesn't seem to have fared any better. Blinken was not received with the customary welcoming ceremony at the airport, nor was there the usual decorum with dignitaries at his departure from Beijing – only U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns seeing him off.