The Cold War which followed the World War II was based on the fundamentals of a capitalist v communist ideology. There was a clash of how the World should be. The ongoing ideological crisis is based on the methods of global governance – Free & Open Society v Authoritarian Regimes. China is more capitalist than the West in terms of economic advancements. To cut-off with China is practically impossible for every Nation of the World. So much so that American & Chinese Markets are heavily inter-linked.
China is pushing around its neighborhood ever since it has “conquered” COVID-19. The larger strategic message is that she is most determined to challenge the rules-based International Order and build a new China-centric International Order. The G7 met this week and issued a strong statement on China. G7 leaders talked about the “need to honour, restore and maintain the autonomy of Hong Kong”. This is Europe saying strongly that we are not playing the appeasement game again. We have learned it the hard way. Other aspects of the statement quoted “Human Rights, Rule of Law, Internet Freedom, Free Expressions etc”. This was to pressurize China into shedding off its “opaqueness” if she needs the World to co-operate with her Rise. Special focus was given on “Freedom of Taiwan Strait, Free and Open Indo-Pacific” to make sure that China abides to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
NATO issued a statement expressing concerns about Russia more than China. It did say something on China – “China’s stated ambitions and assertive behavior present systematic challenges to the rules-based International order and to areas relevant to NATO Alliance security“. China is pushing heavily on building a Nuclear Triad – the ability to use Nuclear Arsenal through Land, Air & Water to push around the island nations of South China Sea. It is being predicted that US and China can go at War for Taiwan by 2027-2028. Collectively with NATO countries present in small island chains of the Indo-Pacific, this becomes a concern.
China responded by saying that “gone are the days when small group of countries used to decide the world order”. She is indicating that “The East is Rising”. She excludes India from The East because India is a Democratic Nuclear State right in her backyard. India has a golden moment in her growth because the World is finding alternatives to China. Even the demographic projections show a great positive for India in the coming decades. With the launch of JIO 5G scheduled in few days, India is looking at a tsunami of entrepreneurial opportunities to lift herself as well as the “Third-World Economies” of the World.
China is asserting herself as a Global Superpower in AI, Space and Cybersecurity domains and is competing the democratic world in doing so. This Cold War is much different than the previous one. The previous one had two different perspectives to economy and one of them prevailed. This one is more of a clash between free & open and totalitarian societies – which cannot certainly lead to the win for any ONE. Globalization brings more perspectives of life into humans and it’s in the interest of Humanity to use this tool to diplomatically ease down crisis born in the minds of few.
