"The Fulton speech 2.0". Whether the world faces a new cold war
The stream of accusations against China from the United States does not dry out. Sanctions, restrictions, warnings, accusations and unprecedented measure — the closure of the Consulate. Relations between the two countries reached its historical limit. For what Washington took up arms against Beijing and is there a way, to understand RIA Novosti.
"President Nixon once expressed the fear that opening to the world the Communist party of China, has created "Frankenstein". And no mistake," said U.S. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo on June 23, the library named Nixon in California.
The head of American diplomacy went through tough China-us relations. And accents: it's time to stop "blind cooperation" with the country, from the formula of "trust but verify" must go to "never trust and verify".
"Policy — our and other free Nations — raised a weak Chinese economy. Now Beijing is biting the hand that fed him," added Pompeo.
Richard Nixon really opened China to the world with the hope that by the market reforms of the PRC will come to liberalism, not only in Economics but also in other areas. However, decades later it became clear that Beijing takes not all Western values, and only those that are convenient to him.
"We must act persistently and creatively, because Beijing threatens our peoples and prosperity. If the free world will not change the Communist party of China, it will change us," predicted the head of the state Department.
Speech of Secretary comes amid an unprecedented deterioration of U.S.-Chinese relations. Some observers saw in the words Pompeo announcement of the cold war.
Eve broke diplomatic scandal: US authorities ordered the closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas. The reason — the accusations against the two citizens of the PRC. They allegedly committed cyber-attacks on American laboratory, where developing drugs against the coronavirus.
The Chinese did not admit guilt, but witnesses noticed in the yard of the Consulate staff burned some papers, obviously, secret documents.
Donald trump did not rule out closure and other offices of the PRC. In particular, in San Francisco, where, according to the FBI, hiding a Chinese researcher, suspected of fraud with the visa.
Beijing, in response, demanded that the Americans stop the work of the Consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The responsibility for the escalation in the Chinese foreign Ministry laid on Washington. "We again urge the US to cancel an erroneous decision and to create conditions for the normalization of bilateral relations", — said the Agency.
Diplomatic pressure on Beijing was growing long. The white house this year was to organize the summit "the Big seven" with the invited guests — Russia, India, South Korea and Australia. The meeting was supposed to discuss the behavior of China, which Washington has accused of trying to create an anti-Chinese Alliance.
In Western countries a different approach to Beijing. For example, Italy was the first EU joined the project "One belt, one road". In the words of Pompeo, some of the NATO members do not want to defend the freedom of Hong Kong for fear of losing access to the huge Chinese market.
Despite the heat, including in the field of armaments, called the situation a cold war is not entirely correct. "Yes, outwardly, it resembles Soviet-American relations in the twentieth century, says the research Director of the International discussion club "Valdai" Fyodor Lukyanov. — But the content is even more important not politics, but economy".
According to experts, the cold war eliminates close trade relations, but they are — and very old. "It seems that both sides are planning to curtail cooperation. I wonder how they implement this idea," he says.
At the same time Lukyanov emphasizes for US the only real motive confrontational rhetoric — the upcoming elections. "Team trump deliberately came to the conclusion that the Chinese threat is the most promising subject for re-election. Her pedaling will increase, and after a few months it Pompeo the degree of impact can be compared to Fulton speech (William Churchill. — Approx. ed.)".
And trump, and his rival for the presidency adhere to the tough stance against China. But the difference in approaches is, said the consultant of the Carnegie Moscow center, Temur Umarov. He emphasizes confrontation between the US and China was in the previous administrations and structural problems in the relations between the two countries laid down at the outset. "The difference is in how work with this government. Trump's advisers, called hawks — supporters of radical measures. They understand that before the election you need to get high — with the victory of Joe Biden for the Republicans plans can put a cross".
The position of the democratic candidate is slightly different. "He is to sit at the negotiating table to join with the allies, to stifle China's institutional hands, but to save face, behave diplomatically and not hysterical," says Umarov.
Supporters of Biden against the closure of consulates and the pressure on the Chinese media in the United States. "Retaliatory measures Beijing will cause more damage. America is an open country, and the Chinese lobbyists with free access to American officials and businessmen. China well — closed state. Therefore, any representatives of the United States — whether the press or diplomats — is very important. Their removal will hurt the availability of information and on the "ears" Americans in China" — the expert explains.
In addition, he said, the Chinese are cautiously reacted to the taunts, which Washington in recent months showered almost daily.
In July, the Americans have repeatedly imposed sanctions against Chinese officials over the situation in Xinjiang Uygur and Tibetan Autonomous regions. Then the US canceled the special regime of relations with Hong Kong due to the adoption by Beijing of the law on safety of the city. The White house plans to ban the Chinese app Tik-Tok: it is, they say, threatens national security. In addition, the Department recently unveiled the official US position, according to which the claims of China in the South China sea illegal.
"Beijing was limited to the Protocol response, the press Secretary of the foreign Ministry at a briefing. However, when there is an unprecedented situation like the closing of a Consulate, China is forced to act a mirror," — said the expert.
What will the hitherto unseen escalation, will be determined after the November elections. Until this rhetoric is unlikely to return to a peaceful course. But hot conflict does not benefit anyone, and painful problems that accumulated over the decades, have in any case to solve.