My TakeIran has shown the West’s containment of China is a fool’s errand

Countries across the world will be wise to hedge their bets with Beijing as the war exposes US security ‘guarantees’ as burdens and liabilities for allies

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they leave a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. Photo: Reuters/File Photo

Published: 9:15pm, 29 Mar 2026

It’s called the fundamental formula of accounting. During a friendly chitchat between Jiang Zemin and Bill Clinton, perhaps to show how seriously China was liberalising its economy, the Chinese communist leader reportedly showed off his knowledge of modern capitalism by citing assets = liabilities + equities.

Today, Xi Jinping might also quote the formula to his counterpart Donald Trump, the self-styled ultimate deal maker. After all, the formula shows one person’s asset is another person’s liability, and in geopolitics or a war, you can easily mistake one for the other.

Trump certainly did; likewise America’s Arabic allies and partners. They thought they were assets to each other but Iran has turned them into mutual liabilities.

That’s why many independent experts argue that Tehran may be losing the battles but winning the war. Losing to a far inferior power is, of course, nothing new to the United States; alas, it never learns.

However, America’s allies and partners in Asia are learning fast, except, perhaps, Japan under Sanae Takaichi. As the war threatens to drag on and exhaust America’s and Israel’s arsenals, the US military has withdrawn missile-defence systems such as Patriot batteries and elements of the THAAD antimissile system from South Korea, despite angry protests from Seoul. This was barely two weeks after the war started. To press home America’s betrayal of the South, North Korea test-fired a few cruise missiles around the time the news broke.

Now, the Philippines, among others, is wondering if it is next. It turns out hosting US military bases and weapon systems doesn’t make you a strategic partner, only a supply depot and warehouse – worse, one with a big target painted on your back.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Countries across the world will be wise to hedge their bets with Beijing as the war exposes US security ‘guarantees’ as burdens and liabilities for allies

Countries across the world will be wise to hedge their bets with Beijing as the war exposes US security ‘guarantees’ as burdens and liabilities for allies