By Sanxuan

Since returning from the National Day holiday, the atmosphere between China and the United States has undergone some subtle changes. According to the usual logic, with a high-level meeting between the two countries at the end of the month, it should create a friendly atmosphere. However, our series of countermeasures, including investigations into American companies and blacklisting, have entered an essential stage.

Lin Jian, Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry

Western officials visit China in groups

To date, the U.S. response has basically been within our expectations. Except for the initial stress reaction of Trump, the U.S. has begun to soften its attitude once they realized they were powerless to retaliate. This is beneficial for us to establish an advantage in subsequent negotiations and put forward more demands to the U.S.

It was also at this time that senior officials from multiple Western countries announced their visits to China, including the foreign ministers of Spain, Canada, and Sweden, as well as Bonn, the foreign affairs advisor of French President Macron. The question is, why did they choose to visit China during the critical period of Sino-U.S. confrontation? What do they want from us?

Canadian Foreign Minister Anand

At the regular press conference of the Foreign Ministry, our response was very clear. We hope to strengthen communication and deepen cooperation with all countries on the basis of mutual respect and equality, ensuring that bilateral relations continue to develop, which will better benefit the people of all countries. In other words, these countries did not perform well before, and they did not follow our instructions when dealing with relations with China, causing some fluctuations in bilateral relations.

The collapse of the old empire

Among these countries, Canada's behavior is the most typical. From previous Trudeau to now Kanai, they have faithfully played the role of the "forerunner" of the U.S. in being tough on China. Canadian Foreign Minister Anand's visit to China this time said that he wants to repair relations with major global economies, but he still added that during the meeting with China, he would place Canada's interests first.

This twisted performance of being afraid of Chinese retaliation while fearing U.S. sanctions is the norm in the West over the past six months. These countries consider themselves allies of the U.S., but in fact, they are only vassals. They are highly dependent on the U.S. in military, political, and economic aspects, and can even be said to be directly controlled by the U.S.

Prime Minister Kanai of Canada meets Trump

Therefore, when the U.S. economy encountered problems, they already foresaw that they needed to act as a blood bag for the U.S. But what terrified them even more was that, given Trump's business personality, the current U.S. might reconcile with China and jointly reap the so-called "golden billion people."

The arrival of a new order

Over the past three rounds of Sino-U.S. trade negotiations, these Western countries were the most tense. They actively spread the "China threat," not only to cooperate with the U.S. in "empty card making," but also because they genuinely feared that China and the U.S. would get too close. However, when Sino-U.S. relations become tense, they fall into another dilemma. Showing a tough stance on China to express loyalty to the U.S. would result in being beaten by China, while not doing so could make them become expendables in the U.S.'s "battle" with China.

Whether left or right, they are all cliffs, and these Western developed countries are suffering. They need to find ways to maintain their false image of "independent autonomy." Now, when they come to China, they just want a clear answer: How long will the Sino-U.S. conflict last? If China eventually wins, how will it deal with those who were once the "accomplices" of the U.S.?

Sino-U.S. rivalry, shifting positions

These countries know that they once participated in the creation of the world order. They understand best how Britain and the U.S. treated the losers in the past. Even now, although China has proposed a new, multipolar world order, they don't believe that China, once in control, will show mercy to them. Of course, before that, they still need a series of performances to express loyalty to the U.S., but it is certain that the day of world order transformation is coming soon, and many major changes have already begun to happen quietly in the "silent places."

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7561016291729900041/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion below using the [top/down] buttons.