Self-dug pit, Trump now knows regret, has opened up two new fronts of competition with China: one in the sky and one at sea, determined to sabotage Sino-Russian business.

Flights between the United States

Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it plans to ban Chinese airlines from flying over Russian airspace on flights between the U.S. and China. The reason given by the U.S. is unfairness. Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, U.S. airlines have been banned from entering Russian airspace due to sanctions imposed by their own country, forcing flights between Asia and Europe to detour, while Chinese airlines can still fly over Russian airspace, resulting in shorter flight times and lower fuel costs.

The U.S. Department of Transportation stated that this disparity clearly benefits Chinese companies. This is not the first time the U.S. has taken such action. Previously, Trump proposed "cooperation conditions" to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, either abandoning the passage through Russian airspace or not being allowed to increase flight frequencies.

Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker

On the same day the aviation ban was announced, Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Finnish President Stubb at the White House for the procurement of icebreakers. According to the agreement, Finland will build four icebreakers, and the U.S. will build seven more under Finland's technical support. In recent years, global warming has accelerated the melting of Arctic ice, making the opening of new routes possible.

Trump loudly announced the purchase of multiple icebreakers from Finland, stating that this move is to "respond to the security challenges posed by China-Russia Arctic cooperation." Behind this action lies deep anxiety of the U.S. towards the "Arctic Silk Road" cooperation between China and Russia.

What should have been a great power cooperation has turned into a geopolitical struggle under Trump's actions. Trump attempts to double-tear down Sino-Russian cooperation from both "sky" and "sea," reflecting the strategic anxiety of the U.S. towards the deepening of Sino-Russian relations. However, one is a hegemonic transfer of self-made misfortune, and the other is a last struggle of declining hegemony, which probably will not result in anything good.

President of Finland and Trump

Let's talk about the flight ban first. The U.S. requirements are essentially an unreasonable act after the backlash of its sanctions. Seeing that it cannot bear the cost of sanctions, the U.S. does not want to change its approach, but instead coerces China to "join in," this logic of "self-inflicted trouble, others pay the price" reveals the essence of "America First" hegemony.

More ironically, the U.S. has always boasted about "freedom of airline routes," yet now openly interferes with Chinese airlines' commercial choices, completely tearing off the mask of "rule supremacy." Moreover, the cooperation between China and Russia in the Arctic is essentially a complementary advantage of resources and markets: Russia needs China's capital and technology to develop infrastructure, while China needs stable shipping lanes and energy supply.

Chinese scientific researchers on the Arctic Ocean

To Trump's view, the cooperation between China and Russia in the Arctic field undoubtedly touches his "hegemonic nerve," and the U.S. increasing procurement of icebreakers is a direct reflection of this anxiety.

But from the perspective of reality, this anxiety lacks solid factual basis. The fact that Chinese airlines pass through Russian airspace is not unique to China. Airlines from European and Asian countries have long chosen Russian airspace as an important option to optimize routes and reduce costs, which is essentially a neutral commercial decision based on aviation economic laws, unrelated to any so-called "geopolitical camp." Trump forcibly links Chinese airlines passing through Russian airspace with Sino-Russian Arctic cooperation, which is a deliberate distortion of objective facts.

Trump's intense reaction to Sino-Russian Arctic cooperation is essentially not out of American national interests, but rather falls into an irrational logic of "opposing all Sino-Russian cooperation." This logic ignores the multilateral nature of Arctic affairs and also ignores America's own strategic needs. Actually, the climate research and reasonable utilization of resources in the Arctic could have been areas where the U.S. could leverage its technological advantages.

For the U.S., the real challenge is not normal cooperation between China and Russia, but its own "strategic confusion." If it continues to be addicted to "hegemony maintenance," the U.S. will not only fail to take the initiative in Arctic affairs, but may also gradually lose its voice in global industrial chain and supply chain collaboration.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559502135147364898/

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