Biden to speak in Poland after surprise visit to Ukraine
Global politics expert Dr. Sumantra Maitra joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss how Biden is risking 'nuclear war' with aid to Ukraine and the broader international implications of U.S. involvement.
A global political expert issued a stark warning on President Biden's handling of Ukraine, arguing China sees continued U.S. aid efforts in Europe as a "blank check" for the CCP to continue its path of "unrivaled hegemony."
The American Conservative Senior Editor Dr. Sumantra Maitra joined "Fox & Friends First" Tuesday to discuss how Biden is playing into the hands of the Chinese strategy one day after he announced an additional half-billion dollars to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia.
"They want the U.S. to be bogged down in Europe," Maitra said of China. "Contrary to the conventional wisdom that if the U.S. isn't involved in Ukraine, then rival powers will see it as weakness, the Chinese do a very different calculation. To them, as long as the U.S. is bleeding in Europe by producing and supplying to the point of inflation and insolvency, the U.S. cannot pivot to Asia."
As concerns grow over a potential proxy war with Beijing, Maitra noted that China would be able to "outproduce" the United States in manufacturing capacity given its massive population of more than 1 billion people.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Joe Biden shake hands at Mariinsky Palace on an unannounced visit, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 20, 2023. (Evan Vucci/Pool via REUTERS)
"What we plan to do to Russia and Ukraine, the Chinese plan to do to us in international relations. We call this strategy bloodletting," Maitra said. "If Russia, Europe and [the] U.S. bleeds dry in a regional war of attrition in a region which is at best of a peripheral interest of the direct American homeland, China continues its path of unrivaled hegemony."
"I think it's about time we start to think, not from our point of view of morals of what we are doing is right for Ukraine, but from a point of strategic interest. Look, if we continue to do this in Europe, we are giving China a blank check to kind of bleed us dry."
Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday. He announced the aid package there, which includes shells for howitzers, anti-tank missiles and air surveillance radars.
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The president was previously scheduled to arrive in Poland on Monday per his public schedule, but instead took a covert, 10-hour train ride to meet with Zelenskyy.
"Biden has promised that he'd continue to support Ukraine without a strategic outline, a fixed objective, a theory of victory or a fixed end date, and Americans don't really like a strategy without an end game," Maitra said.
"We are now at a precipice where we are risking a nuclear war of sorts or a war of attrition, with China ramping up production supplies in support of Russia," he continued. "Neither are good, and the president doesn't really know how to back out of it."
Maitra's comments came after Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted during his visit to Ankara, Turkey, that there are growing concerns surrounding potential Chinese aid to Russia in the form of "lethal assistance," and that could have a significant impact on U.S.-China relations.
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"As President Biden said going back many months, when the aggression first took place, and he spoke to President Xi Jinping, he told him at that point that there would be real consequences in our own relationship were China to provide lethal assistance to Russia in this aggression against Ukraine," he said Monday.
Chinese officials were infuriated after Blinken suggested Beijing would be sending weapons to Russia, but did not deny that they would consider doing so.
And although Beijing reiterated the need for a peaceful settlement to avoid nuclear war, questions loom as a top Chinese diplomat is expected to meet with Russian officials, including potentially Vladimir Putin, this week.