Fleitz to Newsmax: China, North Korea Reflect Biden's Weakness

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang's warnings that Beijing and Washington are on a course for "conflict and confrontation" if the U.S. doesn't change its actions, as well as North Korea's threats of a nuclear missile test, are "saber-rattling" that reflect the Biden administration's weaknesses, former National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz told Newsmax on Sunday.

"I look at this more as blackmail," Fleitz, the vice chairman of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, commented to Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "I think China sees the Biden administration as exceedingly weak."

He added that such threats will likely increase because the countries want to "cash in for some major compromises, for some major concessions from the United States."

Meanwhile, North Korea has been firing missiles over international waters, and Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, has warned that the increased presence of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean peninsula could meet with "appropriate, quick, and overwhelming action at any time according to our judgment."

"The situation with North Korea is very serious," said Fleitz. "They fired 75 missiles last year, the most ever [at] double the number in a single year. It looks like they're making preparations to test a nuclear device. And when Joe Biden gave his State of the Union message, he didn't mention North Korea at all."

He further pointed out that North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, with the last one coming in 2017.

"These tests were suspended because of President [Donald] Trump's tough diplomacy with North Korea, but there have been indications since 2021 that North Korea has resumed work on an underground site," said Fleitz. "I read one analyst, something he wrote this morning, that there could be a nuclear test as soon as this week."

Meanwhile, Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to end years of hostility in a deal mediated by China, but Fleitz said the agreement was going to take place anyway, with or without China.

"The Iranians and the Saudis have been negotiating this for a long time," he said. "They have an interest in having relations. Saudi Arabia is the guardian of two of Islam's holiest sites, and they have to let Iranian pilgrims come there."

However, Fleitz said, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman let China finish the agreement and have the signing ceremony in Beijing as a "finger in the eye" to President Joe Biden "because they're tired of being snubbed and disrespected by this administration."

The move will also be used by China to say it's changing the U.S.-led global security order, "and it certainly represents China exerting much more influence in the Middle East at America's expense," he said.

Meanwhile, China has colonized much of Africa, but the Biden administration is "ignoring a lot of global problems while focusing on Ukraine," Fleitz continued. "It wants to get a new nuclear deal with Iran. Its priority is climate change, and the Chinese are locking down agreements across Africa and Latin America to have access to their raw materials for years into the future, and there's just nothing being done by the United States to counter this."

Much of the response to China, meanwhile, is being done on the state and local level, with governors like Kristi Noem and Ron DeSantis putting restrictions on China's actions in their states, said Fleitz.

What the United States must remember is that China is an adversary, not a competitor, said Fleitz.

"It's time to stop treating them as if they're just another state and playing by the normal rules of the game to advance their influence," he said. "That's just not the case."

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