There are countless reports on the possibility of another Cold War due to the higher-than-ever tension between the United States and China. It is not a new topic as the two countries have engaged in different types of confrontation for some time already. It escalated into a trade war which started when the United States implemented additional tariffs on Chinese goods in July 2018. A technology war followed in May 2019 when the US Department of Commerce officially banned Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and a list of other Chinese companies from doing business with American companies.
Then in Mar 2021, the confrontation expanded into the diplomatic space when US top officials Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan met with China's top diplomats, Yang Jiechi, and Wang Yi. The talks were marked by a tense and confrontational atmosphere, with both sides exchanging sharp criticisms and expressing their respective concerns, which was never seen before in US-China diplomatic history.
The US claims that China threatens Taiwan and wants to invade Taiwan to complete its reunification plan forcefully. China couldn’t rule out reunification by force, but whether it is in a rush to take over Taiwan anytime soon is unknown. China hasn’t done anything militarily against Taiwan, even after multiple US high-level provocations. It demonstrates a high level of self-control on the Chinese government's side.
The US is declining and the rest of the world is progressively heading toward de-dollarisation. It is not good news for the US, but there is almost nothing the US government can do since they can’t even make any significant changes to their outdated political system. Given the current bipartisan system split right in the middle, any US government is weak. Without a strong mandate, all the government can do is continue down with the status quo even if the status quo is no longer the right path. The US debt crisis, for example, is not a crisis this generation of politicians to solve. It is a can to be kicked further down the road. The right to bear arms is another hot potato that this generation of administration can only turn a blind eye to.
When in such an unfavourable situation, the US government needs an external threat to divert attention away from the problems it is facing domestically. Russia used to be a credible threat that fits the bill, but the recent Ukraine war has discredited the once capable threat into an unworthy opponent. The US needs a new enemy that it can blame and divert all attention to. This is the crucial role that China needs to come in to fill.
There is a small problem. China wants to play the hero, not the villain. In fact, China
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