[Salon] America’s sick obsession with China will ruin itself and the world

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3258540/americas-sick-obsession-china-will-ruin-itself-and-world

Peter T. C. Chang

America’s sick obsession with China will ruin itself and the world

The US fixation on a China threat distracts it from its serious domestic challenges and holds the world back from addressing critical challenges, from climate change and wars to AI risks

14 Apr 2024

The US is gripped by a debilitating fear of China, and unless this Sinophobia is addressed, it could lead to profound uncertainties for the world.

Earlier this month, during their first phone conversation since the San Francisco summit last November, US President Joe Biden discussed with Chinese President Xi Jinping their collaboration on pressing issues such as narcotics control, climate change and artificial intelligence (AI), even as he defended the imposition of hi-tech sanctions on China.

Last month, the House of Representatives voted through a bill that could force a TikTok ban in the US, a move that saw bipartisan support and reflects the widespread apprehension towards China. President Biden has pledged to sign the bill into law once it is approved by the Senate.

Clearly, despite the San Francisco summit, US-China ties have yet to thaw. Marked by profound mistrust, the relationship continues to be defined by competition, rather than cooperation.

Unfortunately, Washington still sees China as a threat to its global dominance. During his call, Biden cautioned Xi against escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Separately, several Republicans have called for America’s withdrawal from the Ukraine war to reallocate military assets towards countering purported rising threats from China.

Herein lies the paradox confronting China as it considers taking on a mediating role. Why would Beijing mediate for peace in Europe and the Middle East when this would free the US to pivot towards the Asia-Pacific to oppose China?

At the San Francisco summit last year, Xi and Biden struck a deal wherein Beijing agreed to limit the export of fentanyl precursor chemicals, and Biden reciprocated by easing some of its sanctions. The transaction underscores Xi’s insistence on a fundamental principle of cooperation: the quid pro quo expectation.

Like any other party, Beijing anticipates reciprocity for its help. Therefore, if the US seeks China’s collaboration in addressing the Ukraine and Gaza crises, it must reciprocate by mitigating the risk of open conflict in the Asia-Pacific.

Despite Xi’s commitment, however, experts doubt that restrictions on precursor exports alone can effectively curb the US opioid epidemic. This scepticism arises from the recognition that multiple factors fuel the American narcotic addiction, including inadequate regulation and weak oversight leading to over-prescription, pharmaceutical companies’ aggressive marketing strategies and socioeconomic distress.

Unravelling China’s role in the US fentanyl crisis

The opioid crisis is a symptom of an ailing America haunted by fear. The nation, deeply divided, is wrestling with crises rooted in racial, religious and socioeconomic disparities. Adding to these complexities is the trepidation that adversaries like China could capitalise on these vulnerabilities.

Indeed, mired in a bitter rivalry, the US and China find themselves trapped in a cycle of distrust, where actions by one often reinforce suspicions in the other. In the US, this escalating mistrust has stoked apprehensions about China’s allegedly widening array of threats to homeland security.

These fears range from unsubstantiated accusations of spy balloons, shipping cranes deployed as Trojan horses, the weaponisation of Chinese-made electric vehicles on US highways and even conspiracy theories linking a Chinese cyberattack to the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge.

The US is gripped by a debilitating Sinophobia, a pervasive fear that could result in misdiagnosing problems, with potentially devastating consequences. For instance, the singling out of TikTok over security concerns has been widely criticised as a distraction from an industry-wide issue

The spotlight on TikTok’s potential impact on the 2024 US presidential election is also diverting attention from more critical issues plaguing America’s increasingly fragile democracy.

The reality is that America is deeply polarised, and the election is unlikely to mend its fractured social fabric. Should Donald Trump secure victory in the November presidential election, he has vowed retribution for his enemies. If he faces defeat, the possibility of another uprising akin to the January 6 Capitol riot cannot be dismissed.

Merely focusing on external threats will not resolve the profound issues vexing America. The origin of these problems is intrinsic to the US and demand internal solutions, necessitating a critical process of self-reflection and self-correction.

On the global stage, the era of US unipolarity as the sole superpower has ended. China is playing an increasingly influential role in reshaping the world order into a more inclusive, multipolar one. However, the US persists in viewing China as a challenge to the universal principle of rights and liberty. This fixation on the China threat is deflecting attention from the real and present dangers to world peace, notably the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, which risk escalating into broader regional conflicts.

The mistrust between the US and China ultimately has far-reaching consequences for humankind, undermining our collective ability to respond effectively to the pressing challenges posed by climate change and the potential risks associated with AI.

The US urgently needs to adopt a more balanced assessment of China. Neglecting to do so risks complicating efforts to resolve America’s domestic predicaments, disrupting the reconfiguration of the world order, and leaving us vulnerable to global crises that could adversely affect the fate of humanity.

Peter T.C. Chang is a research associate at the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia