Chinese economic success stories catapulted China as a major actor in international affairs and the world began to think that China would emerge in the post-Soviet world order as the second superpower on the global stage.
Some analysts believed that China would be able to push the US influence in the Indo-Pacific region out and establish the Chinese hegemonic order in this region. To begin with, former US President Donald Trump’s hard-line approach exemplified by unleashing an economic Cold War against China and subsequently the Wuhan virus that contaminated the globe in the form of a durable pandemic appears to have assumed a proportion that could culminate in an obituary of Chinese aspiration to become a superpower.
The Covid-19 pandemic had its origin in China, swiftly crossed the Chinese border mainly due to intentional secrecy maintained by the Chinese government and overnight ended the spectre of China as an attractive destination for the international community to do trade, business and investment activities with that country.
China madly reacted to statements and observations that blamed the Chinese government for not releasing the information about the virus in time and alerting the international community. When Australia demanded an investigation into the origin of the virus, Beijing overreacted by imposing economic sanctions against Australia.
When several countries around the globe struggled to combat the pandemic, China bragged about its ability to contain the pandemic; indirectly conveying the message that the health security system is superior to that of other countries, including the United States.
When India, Europe, the United States and many other countries were finally able to successfully deal with the virus and its subsequent mutants, China accused other countries of ending the lockdowns too early and continued to implement a Zero Covid-19 policy; again seeking to tell the world that Chinese government is more caring of the health of its citizens than other countries.
In fact, in the midst of sufferings and deaths of people in other countries, China made military misadventures in its neighbourhood, especially along the land border with India, the South China Sea and the East China Sea. The bloody skirmish that occurred in Galwan Valley and massive troop deployments in other parts of LAC were the results of Chinese offensive moves.
Moreover, when millions of Chinese were confined to their homes in the most severe lockdowns imposed by the Chinese government, Xi Jinping engineered another term in office for himself and made preparations to annex Taiwan by force. The theory that domestic problems encourage leaders to engage in foreign adventures for diverting the attention of people aptly fits into the actions of President Xi Jinping.
The failure of the Zero Covid-19 policy, efforts by multinational companies to shift out of China, the determination of countries to seek alternative routes of supply chains bypassing China, huge energy shortages affecting Chinese industries, banking crisis in multiple Chinese cities, real estate debt crisis and, finally, massive protests across China against the Zero Covid-19 policy have created anxiety and desperation in the Xi Jinping administration.
The latest outcome of all these developments is the complete lifting of the Zero Covid-19 policy that has made the prescription much costlier than the disease! The policy pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other — zero Covid to no Covid!
The consequences have been devastating. What India experienced during the Delta wave is perhaps pale in comparison to what is happening in China now — long queues in crematoriums, shortages of medicines, jam-packed ICUs, dead bodies lying around, hospitals teeming with patients, doctors and medical helpers dog-tired, deaths of celebrities hitting the headlines and the overburdened health infrastructure on the verge of collapsing. All these are not reported in the mainstream government-controlled Chinese media for obvious reasons. If the Xi Jinping administration is not giving the actual data to the World Health Organisation, can it be trusted to be transparent to its own citizenry?
Indian drugs of various kinds are in great demand in China but are not available in drug stores due to government restrictions. Black markets are flourishing, but with it fake medicines. India has offered help, and so has the United States. But the Chinese government seems to be maintaining its false pride in its ability to address the crisis on its own.
So outlandish is the Chinese government policy that it has lifted all restrictions on inbound and outbound travellers amidst a surging number of Covid-19 patients. It has put the lives of Chinese citizens in trouble, but so has it done for international travellers. The Chinese government refuses to learn from the experiences of other countries in handling the pandemic, but at the same time, it has overreacted to the steps taken by scores of countries to screen travellers from China at the ports of entry. Beijing has suspended issuing all kinds of visas recently for South Koreans and Japanese in response to the restrictions imposed on travellers from China.
China’s desperations have huge costs for the world and such policies may further hasten the decline of China’s influence in the world and delay or deny its aspiration for acquiring a superpower status. China may soon cease to be the factory of the world and its belt and road initiative may hugely fail before it is fully realised.
The writer is editor, ‘Indian Foreign Affairs Journal’, founder and Honorary Chairperson of Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies, and formerly professor of JNU. Views expressed are personal.
Read all the Latest Opinions here
Comments
0 comment