An America driven by fear of China is a danger to all

The US is now fighting culture wars at home and the China bogeyman abroad, making conflict more likely
The Global South and its like-minded partners in the Global North must continue to push back and champion collaboration over confrontation

Peter T. C. Chang

Published: 12:30am, 2 Aug 2023

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Amid a worsening environmental crisis compounded by a tense great power rivalry, a sense of gloom is permeating the 21st century. Unless the divided world collaborates to respond to the exigencies of our time, our worst fears may materialise as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the West, democratic backsliding and upheavals in US domestic politics are aggravating feelings of apprehension. And the prolonged Ukraine war is casting a heavy air of weariness over the Global North.

Meanwhile, the prospect of conflict across the Taiwan Strait is also shrouding the East in clouds of uncertainty. But, unlike US President Joe Biden’s domestic conundrums, President Xi Jinping is maintaining a firm grip on China’s political landscape. In fact, Beijing is confident that the country remains on a trajectory of growth and can still wield significant influence as a global force for transformative change.

Notably, China’s massive investments in green technology are raising expectations that it could achieve a more sustainable model of development, both within and on a global scale.

This year, China is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, the initiative has not only expanded its geographical footprint, but has also diversified into various sub-initiatives, such as the “digital Silk Road” and the “health Silk Road”.

The initiative, unparalleled today in its scale and ambition, is set to have a momentous impact, particularly in the developing world. Africa, for instance, is experiencing socio-economic uplift through the belt and road network, overcoming decades of false starts and missed opportunities.

02:58

China announces US$3.8 billion Belt and Road expansion in Central Asia

Historically non-aligned, countries in the Global South are resisting pressure to take sides in the tense US-China geopolitical rivalry. Despite this, many are sidestepping ideological differences to collaborate with Beijing in pursuit of shared socio-economic interest.

By doing so, the developing world has gained confidence even amid global challenges. In August, South Africa will host the Brics summit, and expectation is growing that this China-friendly bloc could help reshape the international order to better reflect the Global South’s interest.

Can Brics, the emerging world’s torch-bearer, challenge the established order?

Both political and business leaders in the West, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, have called for a more pragmatic approach to China. Recently, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry visited Beijing separately to re-initiate negotiations on economic and climate cooperation. However, despite these efforts, the prospects for a full restoration of US-China collaboration remains uncertain.

In fact, shortly after the much-anticipated visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June, Biden referred to Xi as a dictator, dashing hopes of a thaw in ties. In the same week, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi was warmly welcomed with a state visit to Washington.

03:04

Biden, Modi hail new era of US-India ties and tout deals

The US cosying up to India, despite concerns over its human rights record, highlights American pragmatism – though one driven more by the need to defend its dominance in the global order than a defence of values. Indeed, to preserve its hegemony, Washington has been willing to strike deals with autocratic regimes. But no longer with China.

In February, the American carmaker Ford Motor Company announced a plan to build a battery factory in Michigan in a joint venture with Chinese company CATL. Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Marco Rubio, among others, have condemned the deal. Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin criticised the project as a “Trojan horse” for the Chinese Communist Party.

Here lies the stark reality of the US political elite’s zero-sum assessment of the China threat: it must be contained at all cost, even at the expense of pursuing a greater common good such as tackling climate change.

Meanwhile, polarising culture wars are threatening the United States from within. America is in the grip of a toxic mix of loathing and fear. The loss of respect for fellow countrymen is causing this once great democracy to slide towards the precipice of a civil war. And the inability to treat China as an equal partner is pushing the tense great power rivalry to the brink of a hot war.

An attendee holds a “Fire Biden” sign at the Republican Party of Iowa’s 2023 Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 28. Photo: AFP

The 2024 US election year is likely to witness a dangerous confluence of these fears. Mutual animosity between Democrats and Republicans could lead to a reckless competition to out-hawk each other in confronting China, further fuelling an already precarious rivalry.

The tense reconfiguration of the global order and the worsening impact of climate change are casting a shadow over the 21st century. But in the Global South, there remains an underlying determination that these obstacles are surmountable, while the Global North’s outlook, weighed down by the protracted war in Ukraine and fractious domestic politics, is decidedly less optimistic.

During the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt warned his countrymen: “The only thing we have to fear is … fear itself.” Today, the United States finds itself once more at a critical juncture where hope must triumph over despair. Americans driven by the fear of each other and of others, namely China, could push the US closer to another civil war at home and a catastrophic world war abroad.

In August, when the Brics summit convenes in South Africa, leaders from the Global South, together with like-minded partners in the Global North, must continue to advocate for collaboration over confrontation, and peace over war. Much is at stake, with the fate of humankind hanging in the balance.

Peter T.C. Chang is deputy director of the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia