How the US is shaping an anti-Chinese front and what is China’s response

Yurii Poita, Head of the Asia-Pacific Section of NGRN took part in the discussion of current relations between the US, EU, China and Russia on Ukrainian radio.

Key points:

How does the West rally against China and Russia?

• there is Joe Biden’s reliance on allies, both traditional (Japan, India, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, etc.) and the creation of new ones.
• The “alliance of democracies”, previously named by Mike Pompeo, is being formed, and consultations are underway with partners in NATO, the EU, and alliances.
• Sanctions against China look somewhat chaotic, and so far do not cause significant damage to the Chinese economy, but at the moment Washington is trying to rally allies and is likely to form a coordinated action plan, which may include the following points:
  – Strengthening the military ability of each ally and the ability to act harmoniously (within QUAD, NATO, alliances)
  – Restricting China’s access to key technologies in IT (imposing sanctions on Chinese technology companies, banning the export of certain groups of equipment to China, screening Chinese investments)
  – Prevention of Chinese technological innovations from entering the world market, in particular Huawei 5G equipment.
  – Significant restrictions on scientific and academic exchanges with China.
  – Imposition of new sanctions for violation of human rights, which will force Western companies to refuse to cooperate with China (for example, a boycott of a number of companies to use cotton grown in Xinjiang).

How is China assembling its alliance in the light of its confrontation with the United States?

• the principles of Chinese foreign policy since Deng Xiaoping did not imply the creation of alliances. This helped to successfully do business with all global players, but played a cruel joke – at the moment, China has practically no one to rely on, since it has not formed alliances.

• China is carrying out such actions: it is trying to form a network of like-minded countries, but its possibilities in this are limited; conducts information campaigns to promote beneficial narratives; imposes sanctions on “hawks” – individuals and organizations who criticize the foreign and domestic policies of the PRC.

What is the likelihood of forming a Russian-Chinese alliance?

• The likelihood of forming a full-fledged military-political bloc in these conditions is low, for a number of reasons, both on the part of China and on the part of Russia.

Detailed in Ukrainian: