When Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, no one imagined that this war would ignite a global fire that would destroy the US-led international order that has ruled the world since the end of the war. Second World War. I know I did not realize that the very foundations of US international economic and foreign policy would crumble so quickly and so comprehensively. Four of the top six nations in terms of natural resource wealth are today uniting against the United States in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Although number 6 on the list, China is an important factor on the world stage and is not going away…
Let’s start with China. China has carefully watched the West’s efforts to destroy Russia’s economy through sanctions, to erase Russian culture and influence from the world stage, and to replace Vladimir Putin’s government, and understands that she was next in the hot seat. The fact that anti-China rhetoric in the United States has reached unprecedented levels of vitriol, with China regularly portrayed as an enemy of the United States by prominent politicians of both parties, has not helped matters.
China’s hopes that the United States would abide by the one-China policy negotiated with Richard Nixon in 1972 were dashed when Washington went out of its way to assert that Taiwan was an independent nation. These were not just empty words. In 2022, Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, led a delegation to Taiwan over strong objections from China. A year later, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, welcomed the current President of Taiwan to the United States. This insult was preceded by the United States shooting down a Chinese balloon which China claimed was a weather platform, while Washington claimed it was a spy balloon. All of these events had a cumulative effect and led to a sea change in US-China relations, altering the economic, diplomatic and military status quo. To put it simply, it’s like the iconic scene from the movie ” Network ”: the Chinese are mad with rage and will no longer let things go.
On the economic side, China, which controls 98% of the world’s rare earth production, is considering banning the export of rare earth magnet technology to the United States for national security reasons, according to an article. Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun. These rare-earth minerals are essential to the production of electric vehicles and many of America’s advanced weapons and military aircraft.
Militarily, China decided to flex its maritime muscle by surrounding Taiwan with a fleet of 9 destroyers and an aircraft carrier, and simulating missile strikes on Taiwan.
China is also taking historic and important steps in the diplomatic arena. In early March, Beijing brokered a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia . Nobel Prize perhaps? The Iranians and Saudis met in Beijing on April 6 to seal the deal.
This agreement has produced quick results with the arrival of Saudi and Omani envoys in Sanaa today to start peace talks with Houthi leaders and end the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia ( to the chagrin of Washington, which saw this conflict as a means of weakening Iran), according to the Reuters news agency .
China’s warm new relationship with Russia has raised alarm bells among Western allies. Frenchman Macron, despite his abject failures as a leader, has keen hearing. He’s also a world-class sycophant and hasn’t wasted a minute sucking up to China. Macron’s incompetence as a diplomat was clearly demonstrated by his foolish decision to invite European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen to his meetings with President Xi. The Chinese were not happy. The Chinese ignored her and refused to give her any diplomatic courtesy. Florian Philippot, French politician,
After failing to convince Xi Jinping to distance himself from Russia, Macron dropped some diplomatic bombshells in an interview with Politico during the flight back to riot-torn Paris:
“ Europe must reduce its dependence on the United States and avoid being drawn into a confrontation between China and the United States over Taiwan, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with on the plane home from a three-day state visit to China.
Speaking to Politico after spending around six hours with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his trip, Macron insisted on his favorite theory of “strategic autonomy” for Europe, presumably led by France, in order to become a “third superpower”.
He said that “the great risk” facing Europe is that it “is caught in crises that are not ours, which prevent it from building its strategic autonomy”, during a flight between Beijing and Guangzhou. »
China is not satisfied with diplomatic speeches. A ship she sent with 57 housing units and 429 tons of supplies for survivors of the recent earthquake arrived at Latakia port on Easter Sunday. As the United States conducts military operations against the Syrian government on Syrian territory, the Chinese are using humanitarian aid to send a clear message: China is a friend, not a foe.
Then there is the bad economic news for the Pax Americana. The Chinese and the Russians are collaborating on the creation of a new international currency and more and more countries are using the Chinese currency, the yuan, to conclude commercial transactions that were previously done in dollars. Two weeks ago, China and Brazil announced an ” agreement to trade in their own currencies, abandoning the US dollar as an intermediary ,” according to Barron’s .
This is not an isolated event. The shift to the yuan accelerated last year.
“ Transfers made in yuan, China’s national currency, for international payments increased in 2022 compared to the previous year.
The amount of international yuan transfers reached 96.7 trillion yuan (about 14.14 trillion U.S. dollars), up 21.48 percent year on year, according to data from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). »
The real revelation is that China and Russia reveal that the United States is the main instigator of wars and international chaos. In addition to bringing the Saudis and Iranians closer together, China and Russia are working with the Saudis to restore Syria’s membership and status in the Arab League. Gulf Arab support so far for US and UK-led efforts to oust Syrian President Assad by fomenting an insurgency is evaporating. On the contrary, these countries are now working with China and Russia to end the wars in Yemen and Syria.
And what is the US response? They are threatening additional sanctions against countries that are unwilling to comply with their demands. The funny thing is that the United States, like the great and mighty Oz, turns out to be a grumpy old man hiding behind a curtain.