Columnist Fareed Zakaria says in an opinion piece in The Washington Post dated May 28 that in a country that is divided on almost everything, one area of bipartisanship in the United States is alive and growing \u2014 fear of China.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chinese are eating our lunch,\u201d says President Biden. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri says they \u201care well on their way\u201d to achieving their goal of world \u201cdomination.\u201d Experts warn that China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative and vaccine diplomacy are bolstering its soft power, Zakaria points out.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s look at what is actually happening on the ground. China\u2019s secrecy and deception about the origins of covid-19 have spurred increasing calls for thorough investigations, including now from Biden. Instead of being transparent and welcoming international efforts to figure out what went wrong, Beijing\u2019s attitude has been defensive and obstructionist \u2014 fueling suspicions and conspiracy theories.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis is part of a pattern. Last week, China\u2019s ambitious trade and investment treaty with the European Union ran aground, largely because of Chinese overreaction. In March, the E.U. chose not to endorse the U.S. characterization of China\u2019s actions in Xinjiang as genocide but did announce a small set of sanctions against four local officials and the regional public security bureau.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Stuart Lau notes in Politico, Beijing\u2019s counterattack came as a shock to all, Zakaria says. It placed broad sanctions on the entire E.U. Political and Security Committee, as well as the parliamentary subcommittee on human rights, five leading European parliamentarians and even academic experts who study China. As a result, Europe has all but pulled out of the deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr take China\u2019s relations with Australia, one of its main trading partners. Australia has become somewhat more assertive toward China on both trade and human rights but has always worked to maintain constructive relations. Last year, Canberra called for an independent inquiry into the origins of covid-19.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn response, China had what can only be called a freak out. Beijing hit Australia with all kinds of trade restrictions, and the Chinese Embassy in Australia issued an extraordinary charge sheet of 14 grievances, accusing Australia of \u201cpoisoning bilateral relations\u201d and demanding, among other things, that the country\u2019s media and think tanks stop writing negative reports about China. In April, the Australian government canceled Belt and Road agreements made with China.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relations with India <\/strong><\/p>\n Zakaria then turns to India: \u201cConsider China\u2019s handling of its relations with India. Last year, Chinese troops clashed with Indian forces in skirmishes that netted China around 100 square miles of land along its frozen Himalayan border.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe result is that India, which has long been wary of signing on to an anti-Chinese coalition, is now much more willing. It has banned a slew of Chinese apps, excluded Chinese companies from building India\u2019s 5G networks, and last year joined the United States, Australia and Japan in their largest naval exercises in over a decade.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cMeanwhile, Taiwan, Japan and the countries around the South China Sea have plenty of their own stories to tell about China using aggressive military patrols and other forms of intimidation to assert its interests.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChina\u2019s current foreign policy is far removed from its patient, long-term and moderate approach during the Deng Xiaoping era and after. Back then, the central objective was to ensure that the country\u2019s meteoric economic rise did not trigger resentment and counterbalancing from other nations. <\/p>\n President Hu Jintao\u2019s adviser Zheng Bijian coined the term \u201cpeaceful rise\u201d to describe China\u2019s aspirations and strategy. Now Chinese diplomats embrace conflict and hurl insults in what is known as \u201cwolf warrior\u201d diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n Shrinking Support Abroad<\/strong><\/p>\n Zakaria going on to say: \u201cWhat is striking about China\u2019s strategy is that it has produced a series of \u201cown goals\u201d \u2014 leading countries to adopt the very policies Beijing has long tried to stop. There have also been serious consequences for its global image, greatly diminishing its soft power. Negative views toward China among Americans soared from 47 percent in 2017 to a staggering 73 percent in 2020.<\/p>\n If you think that\u2019s a U.S. phenomenon, here are the numbers for some other countries: 40 percent to 73 percent in Canada, 37 percent to 74 percent in the United Kingdom, 32 percent to 81 percent in Australia, 61 percent to 75 percent in South Korea and 49 percent to 85 percent in Sweden. If there is a single theme in international life these days, it is rising public hostility toward China.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Xi Jinping has transformed China\u2019s approach, domestically and abroad. He has consolidated power for the party and himself. He has reasserted party control over economic policy, in recent months putting curbs on the most innovative parts of the Chinese economy (the technology sector) while lavishing benefits on its most unproductive one (the old state-owned enterprises). And he has pursued a combative, unpredictable and often emotional foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Back to Mao\u2019s Style?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn doing all this, he is dismantling China\u2019s hard-earned reputation as a smart, stable and productive player on the world stage. It all brings to mind another period of centralized politics and aggressive foreign policy \u2014 the Mao era. That did not end so well for China,\u201d Zakaria concludes.<\/p>\n Courtesy:NewsIn.Asia<\/em><\/p>\n