The China Hawk’s Guide to Competing During COVID-19
Arecent Pew poll showed that American views of the People’s Republic of China have turned decisively negative. Sixty-six percent of those surveyed have an unfavorable view of China, up from 47 percent just two years ago. U.S.-China tensions, which had been at a vigorous simmer even before coronavirus, have now boiled over, with Chinese diplomats and propaganda organs openly spreading rumors that the virus is an American bioweapon and U.S. politicians insisting China is due for a “reckoning.”
Greater recognition of the dangers that the PRC poses to the United States is both welcome and necessary. On the other hand, in the midst of a global pandemic costing more than 120,000 American lives, there is a risk that the United States will lose sight of its long-term goals with respect to China and focus on exacting retribution in the here and now, with counterproductive results.
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