My Take | China to benefit as US gets bogged down in the wars of its allies
- First Ukraine and now Palestine, a distracted United States offers a window for Beijing to regroup and reinforce for the inevitable next fight
Is the United States trying to dial down the hostilities? Probably, for now. The mainstream US media seem to have cooled down on their most unhinged vitriol against China recently. Whenever the US is readying for war, in this case a cold war, you can be sure the war-cheering media will fall over themselves to demonise America’s enemy du jour.
But for now, Washington’s “pivot to Asia” – read squeezing China – may have to take a short break.
Of course, the US posture can turn on a dime. Hostilities are being institutionalised across the US government and foreign policy establishment. Among these are the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Office of China Coordination at the State Department and a dedicated China task force at the Pentagon – all set up during the Biden presidency.
However, first Ukraine and now Palestine, Uncle Sam just can’t catch a break.
One big problem with running a global empire is that you inevitably have your fingers in too many pies. China was going to be that one big pie to take care of. But it’s proving to be hard to bake when other pies are burning. Now those require serious attention.