LettersXi versus Biden: how China is beating the US

Name: China’s economy expands record 18.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2021
Uploaded: 2021-05-08T22:05:11.000Z
Duration: 2 min 1 s
Description: China’s economy expands record 18.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2021

Biden tries to frame the US-China tussle as a contest between democracy and autocracy, when it is really about two systems: duopoly versus meritocracy

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Xi Jinping reinforces a downstream levee of the Min river in Fujian province in 1995, when he was deputy party secretary of Fujian. Before taking power in 2012, Xi had worked his way up through the Communist Party and served in four provinces. Photo: Xinhua

Letters

Published: 6:05am, 9 May 2021Updated: 6:05am, 9 May 2021

Joe Biden and his Western allies are now fully awakened to the economic and geopolitical strength of China. This was made visible to all in 2020, when China alone quickly controlled Covid and powered on, driving the “growth economies” dependent on it: from emerging markets to even developed economies, not just because of China’s vast economies of scale in manufacturing, but more importantly also because of projects in the Belt and Road Initiative, which was designed to ensure that even with major disruptions, China would still be able to prosper.

To expect no pushback from the Five Eyes would be naive. However, while the one stick that they try to beat China with, human rights, may galvanise the news media and liberals, it has an minimal impact on those with money – including the many companies eyeing the half a billion and growing middle class in China, as well as the belt and road partner countries.

The economies that decouple from China are simply letting Beijing have those strategic pieces of artificial intelligence, technology and even rare earths. As China’s strategy is always to make the most of an opportunity, it is using the perceived bullying of China to galvanise otherwise apathetic Chinese citizens.

While there may be some resistance to China’s becoming No 1 on Biden’s watch, the country’s ascent will certainly be unstoppable in the coming decade, even as the Biden administration fades into a distant memory. For China takes the long view, it has all the necessary strengths (infrastructure, meritocratic governance, and so on), and it is well-placed to make this happen.

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China’s economy expands record 18.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2021

Although Biden tries to frame America’s tussle with China as some sort of contest between democracy and autocracy (or dictators), it really is about two systems of social organisation: duopoly versus meritocracy.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Biden tries to frame the US-China tussle as a contest between democracy and autocracy, when it is really about two systems: duopoly versus meritocracy

Biden tries to frame the US-China tussle as a contest between democracy and autocracy, when it is really about two systems: duopoly versus meritocracy