In Washington, “everything comes down to China.” At least, that’s how CNN sees it. (Read article here.)
After describing how Biden’s administration justifies nearly all its domestic policies on a “need to strengthen the country to better compete with China,” CNN points out that “China is at the center” of “the biggest issues rocking Washington,” using the pandemic and climate change as examples. The Chinese threat “is about the only issue on which Republicans and Democrats … agree.”
Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan was, of course, about freeing up U.S. military resources to concentrate on facing off against China.
Twenty years ago, the U.S. and its allies hoped “that ushering China into the global economic system would … promote internal political freedoms and a placid global partner.” What they got instead was a crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, saber-rattling against Taiwan, and aggression in the South China Sea.
That’s what was behind Biden’s sudden decision to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. It’s emblematic of a dramatic shift in U.S. priorities from defending Europe against Russia to confronting a militaristic China under Xi. And it’s happening fast: “If then-President Barack Obama engineered a pivot to Asia, Biden is presiding over a headlong rush there.”
“This means there is a new reality in Washington to which America’s traditional allies will have to adapt,” CNN says. “The entire focus of Biden’s foreign policy is on the rising challenge from China.”
Alarmed by the change of tone and behavior by Beijing, “Washington’s answer is to draw its allies into a broad anti-China coalition.” That will force “some hard thinking among European leaders,” who’ve sought to walk a line between Washington and Beijing. France’s loss of Australia’s submarine business suggests they can no longer do that.
This is something that, I think, supersedes Biden’s presidency and will continue beyond him. It’s been building up for a while. The consequences will be profound. Among other things, “Made in China” may disappear from American store shelves.
It’s about time.