A dramatic deterioration in US-China relations in recent days
has convinced current and former government advisers on both sides
that bilateral ties have plummeted to their lowest point in
decades.
Over the past week, the Trump administration has threatened to
scrap an initial trade deal and increase tariffs on China, backed
tough new export controls for Chinese firms buying American tech
products, and continued to push theories claiming the coronavirus
originated in a laboratory in the city of Wuhan.
The White House is also “turbocharging” an initiative among
“friendly nations” to push manufacturing supply chains out of
China, according to Reuters.
And a leaked report from the US Department of Homeland Security
accused Beijing of covering up the severity of the virus so it
could hoard medical supplies at the start of the year.
China’s state media and “wolf warrior” diplomats have ratcheted
up social media attacks on US political figures in response.
Last week, a video mocking America’s handling of the
coronavirus, titled “Once Upon a Virus,” was widely shared among
hawkish foreign ministry officials after it was released by
official news agency Xinhua.
Analysts say the gloves are now off, with any residual optimism
from the phase one trade deal signed in mid-January gone, along
with all hope that trade ties could help salvage the wider US-China
relationship.
“The United States and China are actually in the era of a new
Cold War,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor
at China’s Renmin University and an adviser to China’s State
Council, effectively the country’s cabinet.
“Different from the Cold War between the US and the Soviet
Union, the new Cold War between the US and China features full
competition and a rapid decoupling. The US-China relationship is no
longer the same as that of a few years ago, not even the same as
that of a few months ago.”
While the rhetoric about a “new Cold War” is a common talking
point in Washington, it is used less frequently in public by
Chinese advisers and scholars. After all, the original Cold War
spelt the end of the Soviet Union and left the United States
victorious.
But the nosedive in relations in recent weeks has slingshotted
the comparison from the fringes of the Trump administration into
the mainstream.
A dramatic deterioration in US-China relations in recent days
has convinced current and former government advisers on both sides
that bilateral ties have plummeted to their lowest point in
decades.
Over the past week, the Trump administration has threatened to
scrap an initial trade deal and increase tariffs on China, backed
tough new export controls for Chinese firms buying American tech
products, and continued to push theories claiming the coronavirus
originated in a laboratory in the city of Wuhan.
The White House is also “turbocharging” an initiative among
“friendly nations” to push manufacturing supply chains out of
China, according to Reuters.
And a leaked report from the US Department of Homeland Security
accused Beijing of covering up the severity of the virus so it
could hoard medical supplies at the start of the year.
China’s state media and “wolf warrior” diplomats have ratcheted
up social media attacks on US political figures in response.
Last week, a video mocking America’s handling of the
coronavirus, titled “Once Upon a Virus,” was widely shared among
hawkish foreign ministry officials after it was released by
official news agency Xinhua.
Analysts say the gloves are now off, with any residual optimism
from the phase one trade deal signed in mid-January gone, along
with all hope that trade ties could help salvage the wider US-China
relationship.
“The United States and China are actually in the era of a new
Cold War,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor
at China’s Renmin University and an adviser to China’s State
Council, effectively the country’s cabinet.
“Different from the Cold War between the US and the Soviet
Union, the new Cold War between the US and China features full
competition and a rapid decoupling. The US-China relationship is no
longer the same as that of a few years ago, not even the same as
that of a few months ago.”
While the rhetoric about a “new Cold War” is a common talking
point in Washington, it is used less frequently in public by
Chinese advisers and scholars. After all, the original Cold War
spelt the end of the Soviet Union and left the United States
victorious.
But the nosedive in relations in recent weeks has slingshotted
the comparison from the fringes of the Trump administration into
the mainstream.