Is The U.S. - China Hotline Working?

Flags of the U.S. and China displayed on a table ahead of a meeting. © Provided by CNBC  

CSM: US-China conundrum: Can hotline diplomacy work if trust isn’t a goal? 

Shortly after the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese balloon that had traversed the continental United States for several days last month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin placed a call to his counterpart in Beijing. 

At his disposal: a special hotline intended to help the two increasingly competitive global powers to prevent sudden tensions from deteriorating into full-blown crises. 

The call went unanswered. 

The Pentagon later lamented the lost opportunity for the two sides to talk out the balloon flare-up before it devolved, as it soon did, into a diplomatic imbroglio. 

For its part, China’s Defense Ministry confirmed that its chief, Wei Fenghe, had declined to take the call because the U.S. by its action had “failed to create a proper atmosphere” for a bilateral dialogue.  

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WNU Editor: Explanations on why the US - China hotline was not answered when the US tried to call are making the rounds .... The U.S. and China have a culture clash around their telephone hotline (CNBC). 

But bottom line. Both sides are not talking .... US defense secretary tells CNN he hasn’t spoken to Chinese counterpart for a ‘couple of months’ (CNN).