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Analysts say China will be forced to dig in for a prolonged multi-front battle with the U.S.
U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence’s accusations in a stinging speech on Thursday, warning of a tougher approach towards Beijing may have been familiar to China’s leaders. But until now such remarks were delivered in private, in fairly decorous terms, and rarely threatened direct action. The surprise this time for Beijing was the magnitude of alleged offences piled up in one public indictment, ranging from suspected interference in U.S. politics to China’s stomping on the freedoms of its own people. Nor had the U.S. ever before told China: “We will not stand down.” Publicly, China responded with a certain weariness, calling the speech “very ridiculous,” creating “something out of thin air”, but also warning that “no one can stop” the Chinese people from advancing. But behind closed doors, Mr. Pence’s remarks probably left few doubts among China’s leaders that Washington was embarking on a Cold War that would force the country to dig in for a prolonged multi-front battle with the U.S. , analysts said. Some of Mr. Pence’s declarations, like saying Washington’s trade policy most likely caused a 25% fall in China’s largest stock exchange in the first nine months of the current year, could be dismissed as inaccurate, since trade tensions were one of several factors. But it was unmistakably clear that the era of Washington holding out a hand to Beijing to become a “responsible stakeholder” in world affairs alongside the U.S.— a phrase used in 2005 by Robert B. Zoellick, then the Deputy Secretary of State — was over. “This will look like the declaration of a new Cold War, and what China may do is more important than what it will say about Pence’s speech,” said Zhang Baohui, professor of international relations at Lingnan University in Hong Kong.NY Times
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/pence-speech-signals-new-cold-war/article25139566.ece
