Mattis and Xi Talk About The Sea

The Secretary of Defense and the head of a large nation like China usually do not meet.  The protocol is for Defense Secretaries to meet with Defense Secretaries and leave politics to the diplomatic side of things.  The meeting was unusual in that respect and even more so when the lack of discussion was noted in the aftermath.  China does not want to negotiate on the South China Sea with the Defense Secretary anymore than he wanted to with the President.  There was a message there that was passed and we can only speculate what it was.  For sure, it said, “We are not backing down” and both of them probably had that same message.  Our Defense Secretary has a way of saying that is more believable than most.  Mattis is a Marine with a no-nonsense reputation.  He isn’t a diplomat because he doesn’t have to be one to convey that message.  It probably conveyed better coming from him.