CHINA-US: XI JINPING'S VISIT
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Writing in the Washington Times on September 16, 2015, well-informed American journalist Bill Gertz discloses that talks this week between the Pentagon and Chinese military officials on minimizing dangers during aerial encounters got bogged down because of Beijing's insistence that US military halt all surveillance flights near Chinese coasts. The Obama administration wants expanded military exchanges with China to be a key “deliverable” for Xi Jinping's visit, despite the concerns over China’s cyberhacking and island-building. The summit is expected to be strong on atmospherics but short on substance. He said the Obama administration has prepared sanctions against China for its damaging hacking operation against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) networks that compromised sensitive personnel information on some 22 million federal workers, but the sanctions will be announced after Xi Jinping's visit. A statement issued by the White House said the two leaders would “address areas of disagreement constructively,” hinting that sanctions would be imposed over the OPM hack. The Administration’s plan for expanded U.S-China military ties was described as "a political slap" at two key members of Congress who had earlier this year called for scaling back or suspending the military exchanges over concerns they are boosting Chinese war-fighting capabilities and rewarding Beijing’s threatening behavior.
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