To Stand up to China, the West Must First Re-Discover Itself

“The lack of backbone displayed by Western leaders when dealing with China is symbolic of the malaise that has been gripping Western culture for decades.”

The Coronavirus pandemic is holding the West in a vice-like grip, strangling the life out of our economies as it suffocates the life out of the most afflicted. A virus that came from China and spread worldwide through the arteries of globalization has caused a shut-down of the system that disseminated it. There has been talk of a brewing cold war with China for years now. Along with other geopolitical trends in place before the pandemic, the virus has only entrenched this new reality. Whether we are in a position to engage in Cold War 2.0 remains to be seen.

Daniel Strand at Providence argues that we are witnessing a “Clash of Civilizations” that Samuel Huntington warned would be the norm in the wake of Cold War 1.0. While we should be careful not to let the rhetoric of civilizational clash be hijacked by neoconservative ideologues, that does not mean that there is not such a clash coming. Indeed, it was already being waged through the avenues and trenches of trade war. The offer of aid to various European powers in fighting the virus China unleashed on the world is purely a power play on the part of the Communist Party of China (CCP), designed to show the weakness of our governments in their supposedly lax response. Never mind that much of the equipment offered has either been faulty or not what is needed. The arsonist “helping” put out the fire he started that is consuming the lives and economy of a continent is a sight to see.

In reality though, China has been increasingly expansionist for years now. It has been building islands in the South China Sea and aggressively patrolling what it sees as its sphere of influence. It would not be a great surprise if in the next few years China declared its own version of the Monroe Doctrine. China has also expanded its physical reach through the Belt and Road initiative, gaining access to Central Asia and Europe and orienting more and more of the Eurasian landmass towards its orbit. China is the buckle on the belt that binds the globe, its vision of its place in the world rooted in its 5,000-year mythos. Alongside this are China’s efforts at building up its presence in Sub-Saharan Africa through investment and infrastructure development in return for resource exploitation.