The globe is pushing China back CENJOWS 14 Sep 2020
https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=398
The globe is pushing China back CENJOWS 14 Sep 2020
In early August, US created history by officially dumping its One China policy, which it had followed diligently for decades. It despatched its health secretary, Alex Azar, on a formal visit to Taiwan. The US had till the spread of the Coronavirus and the commencement of Chinese offensive actions strictly adhered to this policy. When the Taiwanese head of state, Tsai Ing-Wen transited through the US in Jul last year, the US state department commented that there had been no change in its ‘one China’ policy and it was facilitating the visit only as an act of humanity. This was done to assuage Chinese anger. The Taiwanese President had no official US government engagement nor was she given protocol reserved for a head of state.
Maintaining relations with Taiwan and commenting on Hong Kong and Xinjiang is crossing the red line for China. It considers Taiwan a renegade province and Xinjiang and Hong Kong its internal matters. Recent US decision of imposing sanctions on those responsible for passing of national security laws in Hong Kong and implementing harsh measures in Xinjiang was strongly objected to by China as transgressing its red lines.
The globe, sick of the Chinese offensive attitude and wolf warrior diplomacy, post the launch of the pandemic from Wuhan, has now begun trespassing Chinese red lines at will. The latest to officially visit Taiwan was Milos Vystrcil, President of the Czech Senate. He also addressed Taiwan’s national legislature. This led to comments by the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, then on a visit to Europe. Wang Yi stated, ‘The Chinese government and people will not sit by and let this go unchecked and will definitely make them pay a heavy price for their short-sighted behaviour and political opportunism.’
This rebounded on China. Pavel Novotny, Mayor of a district in Prague stated in a letter addressed to China that their foreign office was behaving like ‘unmannered rude clowns’. The Slovak President Zuzana Caputova supported the visit to Taiwan by the Czech speaker and termed Beijing’s threats ‘unacceptable.’ Globally, the countercriticism went way beyond just Taiwan with nations standing together on Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Wang Yi, who was on a visit to Europe, hoping to mend fences and open doors for Huawei, faced intense questioning and criticism. In Norway he stated, ‘I would only say one thing: In the past, today, and in future, China will firmly reject any attempt by anyone to use the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere in China’s internal affairs.’ He was referring to the Nobel peace prize likely being awarded to Hong Kong protestors. This led to anger within the EU. As his visit progressed, four nations out of the five, which Wang visited, questioned him in public as part of joint press conferences, over Hong Kong.
The Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio stated, ‘I reiterated that, together with all our European partners, we have emphasized that Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity, based on the one country, two systems principle, are essential.’ Italy was the first European nation to join the BRI and now has a change of heart. The French President expressed strong concerns about the situation in Hong Kong and human rights for the Muslim Uighur minority. Wang could only claim them to be China’s internal decisions and other nations should not comment.
The visit to Taiwan by the Czech leader came just before Wang’s visit to Germany. Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister openly criticised Wang’s threats to the Czech Republic and stated, ‘In the European Union we deal with our international partners together and with respect. Threats do not fit in here.’ He added in the case of Hong Kong, ‘We want the ‘one country, two systems’ principle to be applied as fully as possible.’ The EU had already restricted exports of equipment with double use technology to Hong Kong.
In many ways, this is possibly the first time that a senior Chinese diplomat has been so shabbily treated. The reception he received in Europe was chilly. In every country, Wang had to deflect questions about the new security legislations in Hong Kong, hard policies in Xinjiang and the origins of the coronavirus to which he stated could have come from outside China. Wang had the opportunity to pull EU out of the US group of seeking to decouple economic ties from China, but he failed.
Andreas Kluth writing for the Bloomberg on 5th Sep mentioned, ‘China’s diplomats were already having a terrible year in Europe, but this week they managed to make it even worse. Wang showed up hoping to hear the softer tones to which he is accustomed from Europeans, who remain more eager than the Americans to keep trading and doing business with China. Instead, he was surprised at the amount of resistance he was picking up underneath the formal niceties.’ He added, ‘The list of grievances against China has simply become too long. It starts with the crackdown on Hong Kong and the suppression of the Uighurs in Xinjiang. Then there’s China’s saber-rattling in the South China Sea, and of course its rapacious approach to business.’
Writing for the Australian Business Review, Robert Gottliebsen stated on 03 Sept, ‘we have a global situation where the populations of US, India, Australia, many countries to our north, and of parts of Europe are turning anti-Chinese. The Middle Kingdom is becoming isolated.’ This was based on a global survey conducted by the author. The reality is that China is being shunned for multiple reasons and nations are working to break the Chinese supply chain.
The failure of Wang’s visit was evident within days. French President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe, soon after meeting Wang, to push homegrown 5G technology instead of the Chinese Huawei. Germany, currently heading the EU and Europe’s largest economy, announced an ‘Indo-Pacific’ cooperation strategy seeking to reduce reliance on China.
The strategy openly questioned Chinese claims on the South China Sea. It read, ‘In the Indo-Pacific region, too, it is not the law of the strong that must prevail, but the strength of the law. This also applies to the shipping routes through the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as a comprehensive maritime regulatory and cooperation framework and the freedoms of navigation enshrined therein are universal. Germany is prepared to promote the enforcement of rules and norms in the region.’
China is becoming the global pariah only because of their high handedness, refusal to accept global reality and application of force to push through their illegal claims.
India, which followed the One China policy began displaying a steady change since clashes in Pangong Tso in early May. The Indian foreign secretary held discussions with nations to enable entry of Taiwan into the WHO, against the wishes of China. The decision was subsequently postponed due to the pandemic. The employment of the Special Frontier Force, which includes wards of original Tibetan refugees, in Eastern Ladakh, has put to rest the One China policy. India should now raise Hong Kong, over which it has legitimate concerns, considering the large presence of Indian citizens in the state.
China, which till recently, was the nation in demand, mainly because of its ability to finance development through the Belt Road Initiative, could command adherence to its red lines is no longer considered at the same level. It is now being challenged and its red lines ignored.
A statement issued by the Chinese foreign office, post return of Wang from Europe, on the visit by the Czech senate leader was conciliatory and almost apologetic. It read, ‘Experts noted that the meeting will not affect the substantive exchanges between the Chinese and Czech governments, nor will it shake the friendly exchanges between China and EU countries.’ China has begun to learn that its global threats are meaningless.
Pressure on China is not just military, as with the US in the South China Sea and India in Ladakh but also economic. The lack of substance flowing from the visit of Wang to EU, whose combined economy is higher than even the US or China, displays the frustration that the world faces from a belligerent China.
The message which China is receiving is that the world is watching its actions and if they impact peace, tranquillity and Human Rights, it will be held accountable. The ball is in the Chinese court. It is now being forced to change and mend fences with adversaries if it desires to continue seeking economic coupling. This is the scenario which India should exploit when the two foreign ministers meet this week in Moscow.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army