The cover of Time magazine on Monday showed the year “2020” crossed out over the text: “The Worst Year Ever,” in capital letters. The question is what during this year has made it the worst.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is bad, but is it the worst thing that has happened? At the moment, it seems so, with nearly 73 million infected and more than 1.6 million dead. However, vaccines are arriving and, as time passes, this period might take on a different light.
In China, where the virus originated, a new image of the world is taking shape. While human rights are rapidly deteriorating in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and every other corner of Chinese society, and the US is preparing for a transfer of power, Beijing is collecting big data on other countries’ reactions to its dreams of becoming a big power.
If its “wolf warrior” mentality is shown to make other countries bow in deference, Beijing will increase its efforts to have Chinese standards replace international ones before US president-elect Joe Biden has the time to set his administration in order.
China responded to US President Donald Trump’s failed attempt at re-election by attempting to build an international framework that Biden will have no choice but to accept.
During a visit to Japan and South Korea, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) took a “big brother” approach as he issued instructions and propaganda.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is clearly an attempt to exclude the US from the Asia-Pacific region, while China will not stop putting to use the National Security Law in Hong Kong until every pro-democracy advocate is behind bars.
China is targeting Australia as the soft underbelly of the “Five Eye” nations and the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China.
Regarding India, China is preparing with Pakistan to open a war on two fronts. Beijing is, of course, continuing to harass Taiwan with its fighter jets, warships and military drills, as it probes the India-Pacific strategy.
Beijing’s wolf warrior diplomats are a hungry pack continually on the lookout for prey. If most prey are too big, they go for the smaller ones. The pack is busy feeding on Hong Kong, but it will not be satisfied. It is eyeing smaller prey nearby: Taiwan.
They are ambitious and intent on global hegemony, as they force their standards onto the international community. During the chaotic year of COVID-19, it has become clear that the WHO is in China’s pocket and that Beijing is using it to set the agenda for how to deal with the pandemic.
After many years of red infiltration, it seems as though Wall Street, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Twitter and other social media have all fallen under China’s interests. The damage that the US is doing to its own democracy is highlighting the depth and breadth of Beijing’s worldwide deployments.
Over the past few years, China has seemed to be at a disadvantage, as Washington and Beijing crossed swords, but the pandemic threw Trump’s strategies in disarray and the COVID-19 response has overwhelmed many democratic countries.
Since using autocratic methods to bring COVID-19 under control, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has been looking down at the attempts of Trump and the rest of the world to deal with the spreading pandemic.
Beijing has been ridiculing the US and its race situation, saying that it is not qualified to talk about democracy and liberty.
Next year, relations between Taiwan and the US, ties between China and the US, and China’s dream of great power might all be reset. If Xi succeeds at consolidating his position domestically and internationally, that would be a terrifying world — with Hong Kong simply serving as an appetizer. Now that, if it came to pass, would be the worst outcome of this year.
Trump’s election loss, US division at home and the US’ allies following their own paths are the result of the same blind spot. The idea that China’s “unique” character is a constant and necessary premise — that it therefore cannot be asked to accept universal ideas, exchanges or contact — sets up a pre-existing imbalance.
The naive belief that China can be changed through a freer economy and broader trade leads to increased tolerance of its “special” national character.
After the Tiananmen Square Massacre had no lasting effect on the West, the one-party dictatorship developed into a digital totalitarianism. A gullible belief in the “one country, two systems” promise resulted in Hong Kong’s national security legislation.
China’s membership in the WTO was viewed as a promise of future change, but immediately after signing the RCEP, China raised tariffs on Australian imports.
Now realizing what China is all about, the world’s democracies are panicking, but none of this would have happened if they had been prepared from the start.
By thinking that economic and trade means could change China, and that global issues required Chinese cooperation, the West was just deceiving itself. As a result, economic interests outweigh concern for human rights and Beijing has been given a free bargaining chip.
The Biden administration might fall into the same trap. The danger lies in the myth about China’s “unique” character.
The West invests in economic development in China, while Beijing uses economic growth to buy out the developing world. It blackmails and steals its way to intellectual property and infiltrates democracies, while causing the international order to come undone in the process.
An example of how China never delivers on its global pledges is the way that it blames the COVID-19 pandemic on the rest of the world.
Has a freer economy and broader trade changed China or the West?
China’s image is changing, but in the end, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, “Made in China 2025,” the newest five-year plan and the “2035 vision” are preparations for war.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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