Ex-US president Jimmy Carter warns of ‘modern cold war’ with China
- Marking the 40th anniversary of his normalisation of relations with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, 94-year-old suggests partnership in Africa to ease tensions
- Also mentions Taiwan Strait and South China Sea as potential areas that ‘could escalate into military conflict, creating a worldwide catastrophe’
Former US president Jimmy Carter warned of the risks of sliding into a “modern cold war” with China and called on both sides to find a common cause on African development.
Marking the 40th anniversary of his January 1979 normalisation of relations with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, Carter voiced concern that both countries were increasingly describing each other as threats.
“If top government officials embrace these dangerous notions, a modern cold war between our two nations is not inconceivable,” the 94-year-old former president wrote in The Washington Post on Monday.
“At this sensitive moment, misperceptions, miscalculations and failure to follow carefully defined rules of engagement in areas such as the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea could escalate into military conflict, creating a worldwide catastrophe.”
Carter, who has devoted his post-presidential career to eradicating poverty, said that the “easiest route” to cooperation between the United States and China was in Africa.
