Joe Biden held a “Summit for Democracy” last week on December 9-10, “which brought together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector” to “set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.”

Here’s what it sounded like in a supercut from Biden where he coughed, mumbled, slurred, and gaffed all over himself, as he talked about how the Build Back Better bill “evaporates the confidence” in government. He’s doing a great job at that.

SUPERCUT!

Biden entered his “Democracy Summit” firing on all cylinders pic.twitter.com/uPZ3IyMTz6

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 9, 2021

That sounds like a lot of people just talking for talking’s sake, unless they are truly standing up against oppressive nations.

But instead of standing up to those oppressors, now the word is that they were kowtowing to one of them.

In one of the panel discussions at the summit, the White House had a video feed of Taiwanese minister Audrey Tang giving a slide presentation. During Tang’s presentation, there was a map showing Taiwan as a separate country in a separate color than China. Suddenly the feed that showed Tang and the map was cut. When the feed came back, it just showed a sign with Tang’s name but without Tang or the map.

Irony @ The Summit for Democracy 12/10

1. Taiwan minister's map shows Taiwan separate from China
2. Video feed is cut when it comes back to her
3. "Any opinions expressed by individuals on this panel are those of the individual, and do not necessarily reflect the views US gov't" pic.twitter.com/WYwSGhzFQ4

— Peznt Journalist (@PezntJournalist) December 13, 2021

From Reuters:

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Friday’s slide show by Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang caused consternation among U.S. officials after the map appeared in her video feed for about a minute…The sources, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the video feed showing Tang was cut during a panel discussion and replaced with audio only – at the behest of the White House. The White House was concerned that differentiating Taiwan and China on a map in a U.S.-hosted conference – to which Taiwan had been invited in a show of support at a time when it is under intense pressure from Beijing – could be seen as being at odds with Washington’s “one-China” policy, which avoids taking a position as to whether Taiwan is part of China, the sources said. The State Department said “confusion” over screen-sharing resulted in Tang’s video feed being dropped, calling it “an honest mistake.”

But it wasn’t a mistake. Notice also the chyron running on the bottom of the video toward the end, “Any opinions expressed by individuals on this panel are those of the individual, and do not necessarily reflect the views US gov’t.” So, in other words, it wasn’t just a glitch, it was a choice they were then trying to cover themselves with China. So at a summit on democracy and how to deal with oppressive governments, they’re bending over for China as opposed to standing by our ally Taiwan.

China may also have been disturbed by the map depicting them as “closed” to civil rights along with North Korea.

One source told Reuters the map generated an instant email flurry among U.S. officials and the White House National Security Council (NSC) angrily contacted the State Department, concerned it appeared to show Taiwan as a distinct country. Washington complained to Taiwan’s government, which in turn was angry that Tang’s video had been cut. [….]

“They choked,” the source said of the White House reaction. A second source directly involved in the summit said the video booth operator acted on White House instructions. “It was clearly policy concerns,” the source said, adding: “This was completely an internal overreaction.”

Imagine that the panel this happened during was on digital authoritarianism in the face of challenges from China and others. What a perfect example. Yet, once again, the Biden team has no problem bowing down to China. So, instead of sending a strong message to China that their nonsense would not be tolerated, the Biden team sent exactly the opposite message, telling China that they can push us and Taiwan around — and we will cave.

But it’s all part of a despicable, larger policy of not allowing Taiwan to display its own symbols of sovereignty that the Biden Administration has imposed.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) were among the people blasting the Biden Administration for their actions.

The Chinese Communist Party no longer needs to censor our friend Taiwan.

Why?

The Biden admin does it for them. 🤡🤡🤡 https://t.co/z3473OOJAa

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 13, 2021

We must continue to stand alongside Taiwan, help secure its autonomy, and maintain the status quo.

President Biden cannot kowtow to Beijing. pic.twitter.com/kBQEcYm48y

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 14, 2021

I said this last week when we were talking about the ineffectual Olympic diplomatic boycott that the Biden Administration said they would be taken against China. Either you are all in — with a full boycott — and full action against China or you are not. You have to divest all critical infrastructure and interests from China and make them feel it in the pocketbook. Because right now, their influence is everywhere – even over our own politicians, like Joe Biden.