onsdag 5. august 2020

Why the new US ‘China scare’ is big on pressure, short on vision

US China-bashing has turned increasingly muscular across the political aisle. US allies are being cajoled or pressured to fall in line, and China is now targeted as the US’ No 1 existential threat. Gone are hopes that China could become a “responsible stakeholder” in a US-led global order. Its alleged  trade malpractices, technologicaland military advances, foreign policy assertiveness, and perceived regime repressiveness, have inflamed a McCarthyist “China scare”.

There is a lurking belief that “communist” China harbours a secret long-term strategy to replace the United States as the global superpower. Accordingly, China must be pushed back across the board, regardless. For example, the US stripped Hong Kong of its special status, choosing to treat it as no different from mainland China, without waiting to see how the new national security law is implemented.