Some may argue that the land where the Covid-19 emerged has behaved somewhat strangely over the last months. International leaders and media seem to be unsure about how to deal with China. Some are full of praise for the medical equipment donations, while others raise their voices to shame its policies and feel betrayed by the new superpower.
This analysis gives a differentiated overview of the international activity and key goals of Xi Jinping in the last decades. China’s foreign policy seems to be twofold, leaving countries with uncertainty, or immensely high debt numbers. Yet social media inside the state borders seems to be overconfident in the leadership and is crammed with glorified posts about its heroic quest to save the world’s health system.
The interesting suggestion of this article is not that two superpowers (the USA and China) are fighting but rather that the USA seems to be retreating from the International forum whilst China remains weaker and unsure whether it wants to play the role it has stepped into. This perceptive article makes us rethink the manner in which the Coronavirus pandemic puts national and international differences on display.
Read full story on Economist.com
Author: o.A. The Economist
Original Language: English
Published on: 16 April 2020
Photo: Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash