While Trump was resting, China became big
“China supports all efforts to achieve peace, including the recent consensus reached by the United States and Russia, and hopes that the parties concerned can find a sustainable and lasting solution that takes into account the interests of the other party. China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis in accordance with the requirements of the parties concerned and in line with the interests of the international community, especially countries in the global South.” This statement was made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Tov.
China is working on a defense system to protect the Earth from the risk of a large asteroid collision. China’s State Administration of Defense Science, Technology and Industry has announced a recruitment of personnel, including three positions for “asteroid defense.” According to Chinese media, Beijing is preparing a defense system against near-Earth asteroids. The Middle Kingdom is developing a complete defense system against near-Earth celestial bodies that could collide with the Earth. Chinese sources note that the Tianwen-2 space probe will have to carry out a mission to collect soil samples from asteroid 2016 HO3. However, the small probability of its collision with Earth on December 22, 2032, according to the scientific community, requires space powers to pay attention to the asteroid issue.
Trump is trying to quickly correct the mistakes of his predecessors so that the US does not lose its leading position in the world
The telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, announced by Peter Navarro, the US President’s chief trade adviser, did not take place. The retaliatory tariffs imposed by China came into effect on February 10. Recall: on February 2, Trump signed an order to impose additional tariffs on imports of goods from Canada, Mexico and China, demanding certain concessions from each of these countries. A day later, the imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico was suspended for a month, as the leaders of these countries immediately contacted Washington and announced there that they accepted the terms of the trade ultimatum. However, the phone call from Beijing, as was not expected in the US and predicted by experts, did not take place. Why?
In short: because China, with all due respect, is not Mexico or even Canada. It is no longer possible to speak to Beijing in such a tone. We can assume that Trump has not yet realized that China has become completely different during his absence from the White House. However, in Washington they say that Xi allegedly called, but did not find Trump in the office, and that it is the American side that is supposedly in no hurry to resolve this issue. However, this seems to be a peculiar American attempt to save face. Official statements by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce traditionally repeat the principled approach about the inadmissibility of tariff confrontation and freedom of trade. Beijing, which does not want a trade war, has nevertheless imposed sharp retaliatory tariffs, making it clear that it is not afraid of escalation and that there is no point in talking to it from a position of strength. After all, as the Chinese rightly believe, a tariff war will affect both sides, as well as the entire world, and it is not clear who will win. Beijing has already won in the meantime.
By fundamentally opposing tariffs, China looks much more favorably in the eyes of the world, the countries of the Global South, and especially the Asian countries that are China’s main trading partners, including APEC, with which trade exchange has long exceeded that of the Sino-American. The end of multi-billion dollar USAID aid creates more opportunities for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is investing around the world, especially in countries of the Global South. Beijing is also calm because the 10 percent US tariffs, which will also be passed on to American consumers, are nothing compared to Trump’s promised 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. But on the other hand, would Trump risk something like that? Will American consumers be able to bear such a price increase for everything from toilet paper to electronics, since 60 percent of the goods on American store shelves are of Chinese origin?
And now, it seems that after Beijing’s quick test, Washington has changed its mind and is starting to implement its plan from the other side. Part of it probably includes destroying the strategic interaction between China and Russia. This may explain the White House’s quick steps to improve relations with Moscow. Given the experience of the Biden administration, which, through controlled competition with China and putting pressure on Beijing, tried to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and at the same time “contain China,” Trump is looking for a different path. He will probably go the route of offering Moscow a favorable deal to wean it off China and remove the aggravating factor in the confrontation with China altogether. The essence of this plan was expressed, willy-nilly, by Tucker Carlson.
He readily explains that the US leader can in no case allow Russia, the largest country in the world in terms of territory, with the richest mineral resources, to unite with China, which has too many people, but little land and a lack of energy resources. By uniting, they will, de facto, turn into an alliance that is economically and militarily superior to the US. Therefore, this should not be allowed in any case. This is the most important goal of the US – Carlson believes, but it is precisely such an alliance that Biden advocated. In addition, the attempt to strategically defeat Russia and the war to the last Ukrainian did not bring the desired result, the Russian economy continues to grow, and additional sanctions affect the interests of the US and its surroundings. With its steps, the Trump administration is clearly taking the initiative from China, which has so far been the only country that has promoted its peace plan for Ukraine and carried out shuttle diplomacy. It is enough to recall Beijing’s initiative to create a club of friends of the settlement in Ukraine and its joint steps with Brazil in this direction.
The conflict in Ukraine affects many countries and regions, and there are many forces interested in ending it. And now the initiative in this matter has been taken by the United States, which is raising its rating. But this is not the main thing. Judging by the hasty steps of the White House, they are very concerned about the sharp strengthening of China and are ready to confront it. At the same time, it is necessary to solve a bunch of problems inside the country and ensure the concentration of forces on the main direction of the outer ring. A settlement with Russia and the transfer of concerns about Ukraine to Europe is a prerequisite in this situation. And recent reports that have shown China’s leadership in the development of artificial intelligence models are supplemented by reports that are not encouraging for the United States regarding China’s superiority in robotics, electric vehicles and other critical areas. Not to mention infrastructure. It is also worrying that China has created an industry that can produce anything, producing more than a third of the world’s output. At the same time, the US’s industrial capacity is not growing at the same pace. There is not much time left to fix things and “make America great again”. In the meantime, the silhouette of a “greater China” is increasingly visible on the horizon.
Max Bach
