US Hostility Drives Several Anti-China Measures

Talk of a new Cold War between the US and China continues to loom large in American foreign policy. Sometimes it comes with allegations against Huawai’s 5G systems, and sometimes it is built around Covid-19 conspiracies. Everywhere and always, the administration has decided China is at fault, and must pay.

During a virtual event, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said every foreign minister in the world recognizes “what China has done” with coronavirus, and said he is confident that the world will make them “pay a price.”

The coronavirus is just the latest excuse to go after China. The US continues to reject China’s claims in the South China Sea, and is backing all nations whose claims intersect with China’s. They’ve threatened sanctions and routinely send warships near the islands to challenge China.

The South China Sea seems to most likely to lead to an immediate conflict, with US ships in Chinese claimed waters deliberately challenging them. The US tends to send a handful of ships or planes, and could easily provoke an incident to escalate into a war.

Even small issues like Huawei, where US interests in controlling telecommunication software led to claims that the US might need to back foreign competitors just to ensure ssystems more conducive to US surveillance, have led to potential flashpoints. This has included problems like the US getting top Huawei officials arrested by Canada for possible extradition.

Going after China has gotten to the point where the White House says they’re not ruling out any additional sanctions for much of anything, including disputes over Hong Kong. China is expected to retaliate on such sanctions, risking a new round of trade wars. Trump is reluctant on new sanctions just now, likely because of the risk.