President Joe Biden’s recent second meeting with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping failed before it even began.

Long before Biden patted the communist dictator on the back Nov. 15 and ushered him into suburban San Francisco’s Filoli estate, his administration’s commitment to “zombie engagement” with China ensured a victory for Xi and the CCP.

Biden’s opening remarks stuck to the same script his Cabinet officials have used for months on their visits to China. He told Xi he wants to avoid “miscommunication” and “manage [competition] responsibly” so that it does not “veer into conflict.”

However, tensions between the United States and China aren’t the result of inadequate communication or poor management by the Trump administration. They are the product of deliberate, malign behavior by Xi and the CCP.