And because Beijing is not the same as it was in the days of Barack Obama.
The new team of the winner of the US presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden, promises to be professional, because its representatives have many years of experience in political affairs. However, the question is whether this experience will help the Democrat’s team meet the challenges of an increasingly assertive China. Perhaps Biden will choose to cooperate with China rather than go into conflict. However, recent threats from Beijing against Australia’s longtime US ally suggest that China’s behavior is far more dangerous. The Washington Post’s article is presented by the Mirror of the Week. Ukraine”.
The Chinese Embassy in Australia released a list of 14 complaints last week. Claiming “China is furious,” Chinese diplomats have leveled many criticisms of Australia on issues ranging from the country’s decision to ban Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from participating in the 5G network to “antagonistic” reports of China in Australian media. In other words, China threatened “economic reprisals” against a free country for behaving like a free country. Even the number “14” on China’s list of complaints shows the seriousness of the threats. Although 13 is considered unlucky in the US, any number that includes “four” is considered unlucky in China.
Of course, no one thinks that China will launch a military attack on Australia, but economic war is also a big threat. China buys almost a third of Australia’s exports. With exports accounting for about 20% of Australia’s gross domestic product, this means the Chinese government could shrink 7% of Australia’s economy. But exports are not all of China’s leverage, as the country is a source of tourists, students and direct investment that impacts other sectors of the Australian economy. If China gets really angry, Australia risks falling victim to a real economic conflict.
China has also shown aggression towards other close US allies. Beijing threatened the safety of Canadian businesses after the Canadian government criticized the communist government’s brutal actions against democratic freedoms in Hong Kong. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also joined in the criticism of China’s aggressive policies in Hong Kong. New Zealand also has significant economic ties with China, which is the island nation’s second largest trading partner.
The more China uses its economy as a leverage to pursue common foreign policy goals, the more democracies are at risk of suffering.
Almost all American Democratic allies are vulnerable to Chinese economic influence. This means that it will be difficult for Joe Biden to create a united allied front against China.
Twenty years ago, a typical US response would have been to offer its allies American markets as compensation for lost Chinese markets, but this is no longer a very effective option. Americans have not prospered so evenly lately as to agree to indirectly subsidize the economies of their allies as well. This means that Biden’s team will need to find another viable strategy to build an effective “anti-China alliance.”
Western companies are no longer just using China as a manufacturing base to export goods back to the West. Consumers in China are now wealthy enough for Western companies to sell their products directly to them. A global economic war will inevitably hurt businesses that thrive in these activities. It will take decades for countries to abandon Chinese economic influence.
China now feels strong enough to threaten US allies. Modern China is no longer the country that former US President Barack Obama had to deal with . Recognizing this reality and deciding what to do with it next is the largest and most difficult task that Biden’s foreign policy team will face, the publication concludes.