The West Can’t Call the Shots on China’s Agenda
Beijing has its own foreign policy. The biggest mistake Western powers make is believing they’re still in the driver’s seat to influence it.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on a screen in Kashgar, Xinjiang.
Photographer: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty
Armin Laschet, the frontrunner to be Germany’s next chancellor, recently said he doesn’t want a cold war with China, and he’s not alone. Many Western politicians are wary of taking a stand against Beijing, including French President Emmanuel Macron and a former U.S. presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders. Can we blame them? A return to the dark days of relentless superpower competition would only hurt prosperity and resurrect the specter of devastating conflict.
But whether they like it or not, the Western democracies are already embroiled in a new, deepening rivalry with China, and the faster their leaders grasp this unfortunate reality, the better they’ll be able to contend with it.