The Chinese government has been in distress for centuries to create world dominance, that in due course sabotage its reputation, friendly trade ties and cultural values to an extent that not only superpower like the United States but developing nations-much smaller than China in power and economy, are integrated against the Chinese propaganda creating terror and supremacy.
In the era of free trade, US-China relations continue to sour, creating a trade war situation. Especially under the "Trump Administration" countless sanctions have been imposed on Chinese companies as a response to China's strive for hold on South China Sea.
South China Sea is a strategic important location highly rich in resources like oil, natural gas, fisheries, sea products and other minerals which are extremely important for economic development and is surrounded by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines and Taiwan. A hold of the region implies trade and economy dominance over ASEAN as one third of world's shipping i.e. $3 trillion passes through this region.
From the past 40 years, the Indo-Pacific has prospered under the ambit of the American hegemony. According to Office of the United States Trade Representative "USA invested $328.8billion in ASEAN in the year 2017 alone. Growing interest of China in ASIAN especially after Chinese claims of South China Sea, led to a trade making China the third largest investors ($150 billion) in ASEAN.
China excels in fabricating evidence of history as a tool to annex territories. China baseless claims over the region specifically the Parcel Islands, the Spratly islands, Pratas Islands, the Macclesesfield Bank and the Scaraborough Shoal & its "Nine Dash Line Theory" are solely based on the historic events of the called Han Dynasty dates 2 AD that only China is aware of.
The US believes in maritime predominance, security commitments and navigation freedom and the mere presence of US in the region provides opportunity to ASEAN to pursue economic prosperity without increasing defence expenditure. Also, the US Navy Carrie's out "Freedom of Navigation Operation" worldwide to challenge "excessive maritime claims". China's FONOP claim in the South China Sea draws the maximum attention.
The United States has given a befitting response to China's "binary choice" compelling Southeast Asia to choose between China and the US. Especially under the "Trump Administration" countless sanctions have been imposed on Chinese companies.
According to US officials "FONOP's directed at China are intended to reinforce international framework that China has sought to erode by punishing into the South China Sea."
The presence of US and Chinese Navy has turned the South China Sea into a volatile region especially after US military exercise in July 2020 and America sending two of its aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan.
In the last few days of his reign Donald Trump signed an executive order banning eight Chinese applications. As per January 2021 three large Chinese telecom companies China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom who have ties with the Chinese Military have been delisted by the New York Stock
Exchange. Prior to this US had also targeted Chinese technology giants like TikTok, Huawei and had also blacklisted China's largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Cooperation (SMIC).
Sanctions by the US led to development of new rules by China's Ministry of Commerce ie "countering unjustified extra-territorial application" of foreign laws, thereby prohibiting application of foreign laws in China.
The hasty need to take down the US lead to a break in the cloud with the counter sanction laws as now these same laws drives China annexed territories like Tibet, Hong Kong and others to raise voices and apply same rules in their territory against the harassing polices of Chinese Communist Party.
Officials in Beijing are in immediate need of stress busters to avoid burnout. And if not, then the Chinese Communist Party’s hasty attempts will continue prompting concern worldwide.
Lee Chen is a pseudonym for a writer who covers Asian and world affairs
