As the US-China spat gains momentum whose roots can be traced from the onset of trade war in 2018 at the backdrop of rising populist rhetoric that set the stage for changing economic wind and protectionism, the recent war of words between the two largest economies of the world is raising eyebrows on the Neo-liberal world order. There are mounting concerns that the tensions may snowball into serious confrontation between the two highly dependent trading partners whose trading, according to IMF, account to 40% of the world’s trade.
As Trump set the international stage with his slogan, “America’s First” policies and being tough on China, the recent events have seen the manifestation of such approach in a blatant fashion as US alleges China for performing acts of “economic espionage” causing the former to close the Chinese embassy in Houston. No prizes for guessing, China responded in a reciprocal manner but closing the US embassy in Chengdu. As the capitalists and communist rhetorical stand at a face-off with US storming spats and blames on the communist regime for curbing the freedom of Hong Kong through the notorious and controversial extradition bill affair and exporting the “Chinese virus” that has engulfed the world in a vicious storm.
On a logical and reasonable side, it is incumbent to ask why the US continues to foster anti-China narrative at an unsettled time in international affairs. On a cursory glance, such an approach is a manifestation of Trump playing his patriotic card to lambast China and grab some votes to his side. However, if such a move is given a foresight, the long-term impact of such brinkmanship might be detrimental to global peace and security. It is because if the rhetoric is allowed to rage at fever pitch, the unintended and plausible consequences might manifold. Furthermore, if China’s human rights record are shady, US is definitely not barred from such criticism. Therefore, the prudent way forward in the case of US- China faceoff might be that instead of picking an ugly fight with one another at the time when global scenario is tense and turbulent, US should employ more restrained and discreet channels to communicate its genuine concerns with Beijing.
Hadia Mukhtar
Karachi
