Are the U.S. and China on a Crash Course? 03/16/2010
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the Telegraph, a right-leaning UK newspaper, sees U.S. Chinese relations as spiraling towards confrontation, and puts the blame on China:
Clearly, Beijing is in denial about is own part in the global imbalances behind the credit crisis, specifically by running structural trade surpluses, and driving down long rates through dollar and euro bond purchases. No doubt the West has made a hash of things, but the Chinese view of events is twisted to the point of delusional.
What interests me is Beijing's willingness to up the ante. It has vowed sanctions against any US firm that takes part in a $6.4bn weapons contract for Taiwan, a threat to ban Boeing from China and a new level of escalation in the Taiwan dispute.
In Copenhagen, Wen Jiabao sent an underling to negotiate with Mr Obama in what was intended to be - and taken to be - a humiliation. The US President put his foot down, saying: "I don't want to mess around with this anymore." That sums up White House feelings towards China today.
We have talked ourselves into believing that China is already a hyper-power. It may become one: it is not one yet. China is ringed by states - Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India - that are American allies when push comes to shove. It faces a prickly Russia on its 4,000km border, where Chinese migrants are itching for Lebensraum across the Amur. Emerging Asia, Brazil, Egypt and Europe are all irked by China's yuan-rigged export dumping.
The last point is the most poignant. Universal recognition that China will be a superpower in the future has made people view it as one already, and helped China’s leadership to tend towards hubris. It will be interesting to see how the U.S.-China relationship evolves- this interaction could change the future of world politics. In the meantime, some advice to China: The rise to the top is always better than actually being on top, for what it’s worth.
Hat tip: Cameron Nelson
Clearly, Beijing is in denial about is own part in the global imbalances behind the credit crisis, specifically by running structural trade surpluses, and driving down long rates through dollar and euro bond purchases. No doubt the West has made a hash of things, but the Chinese view of events is twisted to the point of delusional.
What interests me is Beijing's willingness to up the ante. It has vowed sanctions against any US firm that takes part in a $6.4bn weapons contract for Taiwan, a threat to ban Boeing from China and a new level of escalation in the Taiwan dispute.
In Copenhagen, Wen Jiabao sent an underling to negotiate with Mr Obama in what was intended to be - and taken to be - a humiliation. The US President put his foot down, saying: "I don't want to mess around with this anymore." That sums up White House feelings towards China today.
We have talked ourselves into believing that China is already a hyper-power. It may become one: it is not one yet. China is ringed by states - Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India - that are American allies when push comes to shove. It faces a prickly Russia on its 4,000km border, where Chinese migrants are itching for Lebensraum across the Amur. Emerging Asia, Brazil, Egypt and Europe are all irked by China's yuan-rigged export dumping.
The last point is the most poignant. Universal recognition that China will be a superpower in the future has made people view it as one already, and helped China’s leadership to tend towards hubris. It will be interesting to see how the U.S.-China relationship evolves- this interaction could change the future of world politics. In the meantime, some advice to China: The rise to the top is always better than actually being on top, for what it’s worth.
Hat tip: Cameron Nelson
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