We have to give credit to Rex Tillerson for at least trying to pretend that Washington has good relations with China.

On Sunday, the U.S. Secretary of State concluded his visit to China. He has returned to Washington with an awkward handshake and a flurry of meaningless formalities:

Poor Rex "You said that China-U.S. relations can only be friendly. I express my appreciation for this," Xi said.

What did Tillerson expect, though?

While it's true that America is still hooked on cheap Chinese products, the reality is that Beijing has made it clear that its security and longterm economic viability will be achieved through close cooperation with Russia and greater Eurasia. The foreign policy geniuses in Washington actually managed to push Russia into China's arms — an accomplishment that we described as the "biggest geopolitical blunder since 1776".

Yes, it's true that Xi told reporters that China is "expecting a new era for constructive development" with Washington. Are we supposed to be impressed by this bland, vanilla statement, though? You can find similar language from joint statements between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority. But are there any actions to back up the words?

Show us the money.

Regarding "constructive development" with China, Rex could use a few pointers from Putin:

The photographs don't lie. And neither does the $400 billion gas deal. Or the endless list of infrastructure and trade agreements. Or BRICS. Or the fact that Beijing has stated openly that it is "coordinating" its foreign policy with Moscow.

But apparently we're supposed to be impressed by Tillerson bagging some "warm words":