China-US relations are the worst in decades

In keeping with the increased spread of the new coronavirus in the United States, the Donald Trump administration has raised its tone toward China. To the annoyance of the Beijing regime, the virus has been dubbed the “Wuhan Virus” and Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo has argued that there is “substantial evidence” that the outbreak occurred in a laboratory in China, without presenting any evidence.

China’s reaction It is counterattack. The state television channel CCTV has called Pompeo crazy and called for an international investigation into the “incredibly failed” virus fight in the United States.

Instead of joining, covid-19 has brought the relationship between the world’s two most powerful economies to icier levels than in decades. A development that is serious for everyone, says China expert Frédéric Cho, who is, among other things, vice president of the Sweden-China Trade Council.

Instead of joining, covid-19 has brought the relationship between the world’s two most powerful economies to icier levels than in decades.

– It’s paradoxical. Trade relations between the United States and China have never been so close. But politically, the environment is the worst since the early 1970s, says Frédéric Cho.

It was in the 1970s that Henry Kissinger, as a security adviser during the Nixon administration, went to Beijing and started an ice formation in relations with China.

After that he came closer China was liberated during Bill Clinton’s tenure as president of the World Trade Organization, trade grew, and the Chinese economy flourished with growth figures that point to the United States, which will soon be ruled as the world’s largest economy.

But under President Trump, the relationship has become increasingly icy. It is true that Trump has repeatedly made declarations of love to China’s leader, Xi Jinping. But in practice it has acted harder than any of its representatives. It started a trade war with China, raised tariffs on several occasions, and banned Chinese Huawei from participating in the acquisition of 5G in the United States.

The responses of the regime. in China, which has become less open and more authoritarian since Xi Jinping came to power, he has not waited. International investigators are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain a visa for China, American journalists have been expelled, and two Canadians are incarcerated in response to the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Canada at the behest of the United States.

For the communist regime in Beijing, the US attacks are proof of what they had always suspected: that the United States wants to contain China in its quest to resume its role as world leader.

At the same time, the Communist Party is balancing its response to American attacks. On the one hand, it cannot be ignored, on the other it is important to maintain good relations with the rest of the world. Not least as a result of the economic race that led to the coronavirus.

For the communist party The horror scene is a development similar to the one that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, where the poor economy was a great explanation. In the first quarter of this year, China’s economy fell like a rock, and the country needs the rest of the world to recover.

“This is why you don’t want to take the harsh rhetoric too far,” says Frédéric Cho.

At the same time, it is important that China satisfy the audience at home. Here too, there is a dissatisfaction that the regime reacted too late to the virus outbreak. So the United States can act as a common enemy that can support nationalist sentiments in the country.

– For China, it has to sound harsh on the outside, to demonstrate that no one can step on China’s honor. Then you send humble signals inward, showing that the country cares. The doctor who warned about the virus was later martyred. The regime is going through a difficult balance, says Frédéric Cho.

He watches with concern how relations between the United States and China create uncertainty in the world. The effects are already noticeable when Trump threatens new tariffs, falling stock markets and uncertainty about the future creates bad conditions for investment.

– That the two trees create uncertainty that makes doing business more risky.