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This week’s Chinese American top it was bittersweet. The three-hour virtual meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterparts Xi Jinping began with respect, which was also friendly, but soon fell into covered condemnation and threats.
No surprises.
The friction between these two major world powers has grown too wide and too deep to bridge with diplomatic politeness. They disagree on almost everything from trade and security to human rights, and in rare cases where they agree on a result, they disagree on the process.
But some disagreements, such as the future of Taiwan, are boiling, with the risk of leading the two powers directly into confrontation in a reckless test of will. Beijing seems to be insisting on reintegrating the autonomous island, if necessary by force, while Washington seems determined to use China’s military threat and economic and diplomatic blackmail to give a strong arm to dominate Taiwan.
So while the two leaders have officially pledged to maintain Taiwan’s status in the context of the “One China” policy, they also took the time at the summit to inform each other.
President Xi has warned the United States of its involvement in China’s internal affairs, warning that “anyone who plays with fire will be burned.” President Biden, who promised to defend quickly against any attack in Taiwan in the past, warned China that in the face of the consequences of forcibly changing the situation in Taiwan, I believe they could be more economical than military, but no less so. breaker.
In this way, the summit has addressed everything from security, trade and human rights, but has not resolved anything. All he did was clarify the rules of the commitment to move forward after the three-hour diplomatic truce was over.
That’s not surprising either.
Disagreements over Taiwan, like those over Hong Kong and North Korea, are a symptom of a much greater conflict over dominance in Asia and, indeed, in the world, all of which compares to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. .
Yes, I remember the obstacles to that analogy, aware of the similarities and differences between the two eras, and yes, I am aware that China, unlike the USSR, is deeply embedded in the West-led international. system, and does not seek world domination through an alternative global ideology. Not yet, though.
But the similarities are becoming astonishing when a rising China begins to pose a strategic challenge to a global system similar to the Soviet Union; Because Biden frames the conflict between the US and China in ideological terms (the clash between democracy and autocracy); and both sides show a willingness to use all means necessary to achieve their goals outside of a major military confrontation or destructive “hot war”.
China has certainly overtaken Russia, which is trying to regain its old glory and influence through any means necessary. President Vladimir Putin may be playing dirty games with the West, but Xi is adamant about completely rewriting the rules of the game.
The powerful Chinese man rejects the “order based on international norms” promised by the West and insists on writing together the principles of a new world order.
In other words, the U.S. may underestimate Moscow’s provocations as a “desperate maneuver by a regional power,” but as for Beijing, it has no other bullish superpower and no other remedy than to pursue such persecution.
China has been successful where it needs to be, where the Soviet Union failed: the economy. China’s economy has expanded at an alarming rate and, all things being equal, this decade is set to surpass that of the US.
China is also developing a doctrine and strategic stance that deserves its economic dominance, and which includes conventional, naval, digital, space, and nuclear military power.
There are many ways to quantify the Chinese miracle, no less compared to the US. But it is enough here to give an overview of the century since the US was created as a world power and the Communist Party of China was founded in 1921.
In its first half, China suffered riots, disintegration, foreign occupation, and tens of millions of starving deaths, while the U.S. became a world superpower, with 40 to 50 percent of the world economy.
China began its actions in the last 50 years, coinciding with the recognition of the communist government by the US and the historic visit of former President Richard Nixon in 1972, the first by a US president. But it was not until 10 years later that China began to liberalize and industrialize without expanding its economy at an unparalleled pace.
In 2001, the merger of the World Trade Organization (WTO) pushed China to a world-leading role as a “world factory”. Over the next 20 years, the Chinese economy grew from the equivalent of 13% of the U.S. economy to 73% this year; five times the rise. In the process, it lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty.
In addition, Xi’s 2013 multi-trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BIS), which spans more than 60 countries, has secured China’s strategic enlargement and geopolitical expansion like never before. Interestingly, renewable energy investments in 2020 reached a height of 57 percent of the total BRI for energy projects.
The US hoped that membership in China would mean cheap imported goods and moderation and democratization by the Chinese government, but in the end, China’s rise led to a $ 300 billion annual trade deficit and the Communist Party squeezed power, unfortunately.
As China’s miracle spread, U.S. power has continued to deteriorate over the past 20 years, from wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East to the 2008 financial crisis and Trump’s disastrous presidency, as Washington lost much. goods, credibility, and influence among friends and enemies around the world.
In the process, the U.S. reduced its share of the world economy by almost half to 22 percent.
That is why Biden, urging Xiri not to give up its rivalry in the conflict, must be careful after the summit to ensure that the US has the necessary geopolitical strength to prevent an aggressive movement in China and beyond.
It is also up to the Chinese leader, who now feels confident, not to resort to inappropriate means or unnecessary threats that could escalate into a major confrontation with dangerous consequences.
The well-being of the world, as well as its survival, depends on it.
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