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China need not fear the challenge of a racist, crumbling West
- Unless the West goes back to the racial tribalism of the last century, a unified Western strategy against China is not morally and practically sustainable
- China should continue to control its hubris as there is no reason to panic, either from a democratic alliance or an ‘Asian Nato’ meant to strangle China
Oswald Spengler, the prophet of the decline of the West, left a terrible question for the West more than a century ago. If the decline of the West is caused by its own doing, then it has no one to blame. But if the rise of non-white people causes the West to decline, should the West eliminate them?
The Yellow Peril theme was popularised by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II at the end of the 19th century. As the saying famously attributed to Karl Marx goes, history repeats itself, the first time is tragedy, the second time farce. It is farcical that China should be chosen by the West as a lead scapegoat for its own crisis.
Within the United States, the so-called bipartisan consensus against China is also fragile. Its crisis comes from demographic change as the white population loses its dominant position. The political elite try to hold onto the orthodoxy of liberal democracy, but populist leaders are striking at democratic values.
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03:23
China mocks the US as Beijing compares chaos at Capitol with Hong Kong protests
Thus, the crisis in the West is not caused by a fight between political parties but by “two countries in one system”. The citizenry is split in two camps.
China plays no role in social divisions in the West but could help heal them with more jobs for the middle class.
It has no geopolitical problem with Europe. They do not share a common border and they are key economic partners. Britain and France have conducted freedom of navigation operations in the Pacific, but this is to divert attention from their domestic crisis by evoking their glorious past east of the Suez.
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03:15
World shocked by assault on the US Capitol by radical pro-Trump supporters in Washington
The decline of the middle class, which President Donald Trump has exploited skilfully, could be slowed with engagement with China. Economic decoupling makes little sense.
The “Indo-Pacific” strategy is the weirdest invention in geopolitics. It is the only concept designed to give the appearance the United States still takes allies seriously.
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02:14
Japan-US hold joint military drills including cyberwarfare training as concerns about China grow
In this region, no one is interested in armed conflict with China. Moreover, such a strategy is built on weak foundations.
The technological competition with China might be a real concern, but the current debate is going down the path of a racialist argument first promoted by Spengler 90 years ago in Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life.
Spengler vehemently argued against technological advancement because these achievements might arm the “coloured races” to destroy white civilisation.
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02:31
The growth of Chinese military power over the past four decades
But China is willing to engage in international rule-setting, and it works to resolve the tension of technological competition through global institutions. A hostile attitude towards China’s technological advancement only fans ultranationalism.
Unless the West decides to go back to the racial tribalism of the last century, a unified Western strategy against China is not morally and practically sustainable. China should not overreact to Western rhetoric against China, though.
At this delicate moment when the West is in real panic because white supremacy is crumbling, China should adhere to Deng Xiaoping’s admonition to control its hubris.
There is no reason to panic, either from a democratic alliance or an Asian Nato to strangle China. The “wolf warrior” rhetoric is totally unwise and ineffective.
Lanxin Xiang is a professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, and chair professor at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law
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