There are two sides to any superpower- firstly, economic prowess that allows you to handle global narratives and secondly, the ability to strongarm, sometimes even in a nasty manner, if other refuse to fall in line.
As Beijing stares at losing the tag of “world’s factory”, China might no longer enjoy the kind of economic power and influence that it has been enjoying for decades now. But the Dragon doesn’t want to lose influence, so it has started bullying those who speak against the Coronavirus mismanagement and cover-up, including suspicions of the novel infection slipping out from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The latest case is that of Australia- a country that has been a victim of China’s economic warfare. Recently, it was revealed that Beijing had robbed Canberra of crucial medical supplies days before the Pandemic hit down under.
Chinese businesses in Australia robbed the country of masks, hand sanitizer, and other vital medical supplies, crippling it severely in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak that originated in China in the first place.
Palpable anti-Beijing sentiment has taken roots in Australia now, and the entire political establishment from the Wagga Wagga City Council that has cut off sister city ties with the Chinese city of Kunming, to the Federal government are speaking up against China.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants the WHO and the UN to act against China’s wet markets, while the Foreign Minister Marise Payne wants a global, independent inquiry into the “origins” of COVID-19 and China’s handling of the initial outbreak in Wuhan- a move that has resonated explicitly with Prime Minister Morrison.
There are worldwide suspicions about COVID-19 originating from the Wuhan Institute of Virology(WIV) — the largest virus bank in Asia which preserves more than 1,500 strains and is situated just 8 miles away from the Huanan wet market.
Payne’s demand for an independent inquiry further asserts such suspicions. And this has not gone down well with Beijing which has now extended open threats to Australia.
China has suggested that it might boycott Australian goods and tourism, throwing bilateral diplomatic ties between the two countries into a quagmire.
China is fast losing the steam it enjoyed as the manufacturing hub of the world even as Multinational Corporations (MNCs), including the Japan-based entities, have started moving out of China.
As many as 1,000 companies, currently operating manufacturing facilities in China, plan on translocating to India and even South Korean majors want to exit China and relocate to India. A number of companies are also looking at Vietnam as an alternative to China.
Beijing is clearly no longer as economically resourceful that it used to be. It might no longer be the manufacturing hub in the post-Coronavirus world order. So what does it do? The Dragon is now showing its ugly side to somehow fill in the space that it is fast losing.
Therefore, China goes full belligerent in the South China Sea in order to harass other stakeholders such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines because at the end of the day Beijing is desperate to regain its status of a global giant.
And this is again where the hostility between Canberra and Beijing might have escalated. This time around Australian Navy ganged up with the American frigates in an attempt to cut the PLA Navy to size.
Now, a desperate Beijing, crumbling under the weight of an economic boycott, has threatened Australia with economic warfare. China happens to be Australia’s largest trading partner and Beijing wants to exploit that.
This is why the Chinese Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye recently said, “The Chinese public is frustrated, dismayed and disappointed with what Australia is doing now.”
He added, “If the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think ‘Why should we go to such a country that is not so friendly to China?’ The tourists may have second thoughts.”
In China, the CCP decides what people think and therefore Jingye’s comments are bound to be read as an open threat of boycott. He also said, “Maybe also the ordinary people will say why should we drink Australian wine or to eat Australian beef?” which basically means that the Jinping regime won’t allow Chinese people to drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef but continue to smuggle exotic Australian animals to feed the Chinese wet markets.
However, Australia is in no mood to bow down, unlike the European Union whose officials got compromised when China wanted a critical report to be revised.
The Australia Trade Minister Simon Birmingham shot back and China saying that the Australian government’s position won’t change.
He added, “Surely Australians would expect our Government has determined that the death of hundreds of thousands of people around the world warrants transparency and investigation to prevent it from happening again.”
Having lost the hegemony it once enjoyed, the Dragon is trying to fill in the space created in its global position through sheer roguism. Meanwhile, Australia and other countries continue to show China its reduced position in the new world order.