China: on the brink of war with the US? An expert explains

This week the country announced it was increasing military spending, and its newly installed foreign minister warned that if the US did not change course soon, there would be conflict.

But China also recently published a 12-point plan for ending the conflict in Ukraine, despite not condemning Russia’s invasion. Ukrainian president Volodmyr Zelenskyy even said he would meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss the plans.

So is this the moment where Beijing asserts itself on the world stage after being locked away during Zero Covid for so long?

In today’s episode, Kiran Moodley speaks to Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford, about China’s growing frustration with Moscow and the likelihood of a new Cold War.

Producer: Freya Pickford

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[tthex]

Everytime some expert predicts Chinese economic collapse I switch off, I've been doing it for 33 years

[vincentlohkn]

This speaker is really objective and he really understands the reality in China's political thinking and the Chinese economic and social systems and he is not biased against the Chinese political system, unlike most Western commentators.

[NuestraPatriaGrande]

The Communist Party in China is neither communist nor a political party in the sense of a western party. The best way to understand the governance of China is to imagine the re-emergence of a non.hereditary-dynasty. The dynasty is in fact the governance of China. This dynasty is endemically efficiency oriented and accepts its responsibility for being the guarantors of the Peace, harmony and well being of the Chinese people. The Communist party sees itself as part of the people. The Party makes sure that the needs of the villagers are safeguarded. When people in any locality complain, it is usually about the local leaders who may or may not be party members. While dissent is discouraged any problem that reaches the regional governments is usually resolved immediately and the party leader for the area may be disciplined. Best practices were used by China before Europe existed as an entity. Being entrepreneurial was and is endemic to Chinese culture. You could say that China used capitalism before the West discovered the term. The SILK ROAD was all about business and trade. Xi´s ONE BELT ONE ROAD INITIATIVE is a re-emergence of the same concept on steroids. China is modern now. Many of its businesspeop´lke and leaders have Western Education. They have experimented with many political systems and are now a work in progress that I call an evolving SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC MERITOCRACY. One of the results of Chinese tradition is the need to have experienced, knowledgeable leaders. If you are not impressed easily you will be impressed by the seasoned leadership of China. One of the reasons for China´s dynastic longevity has been its meritocratic system of leadership. Another characteristic of China´s growth is an endemic view of commerce and hegemony. China is steeped in Confusian/Buddhist culture. It wants to become the center of culture and commerce again. China developed by attracting commerce and trade to its markets. Today China is the worlds largest market. IT DOES NOT NEED TO CONQUER AND STEAL TO GROW AS THE WEST HAS. IT GROWS EXPONENTIALY BY ATRACTING BUSINESS AND TRADE. If the US became a little more educated about Chinese culture the US would discover that China will never be a rival. There is nothing that China wants or needs fronm the US except for fair trade and commerce. If The US wanted to unite with the US in research and development on climate change, poverty eradication, pandemics, the world would be better for it. Space travel could be a joint venture. There is really really no benefit to artificially create problems for China. THERE IS NO REASON FOR CREATING THEATERS FOR WAR!

[jackjhmc]

What do you expect when Americans openly said China CCP is an existential threat to America in the house committee hearings last week?

[susana]

This speaker is clear, brilliant and worth listening to. Thank you for interviewing him.

[paulmakinson]

As someone who has lived under a dictatorship (Argentina), I can say that civil liberties are not disjointed from economic development. Without civil liberties, press freedom, economic freedom (creating your own business) and decent and accessible education for all, there is no oversight of what the government does, corruption thrives, tax money is embezzled, productive businesses get extorted or confiscated, and their is no incentive to be creative. Democracy alone will not stop corruption, you need a population educated in civics and critical thinking (something absent in Argentina now) and a truly diverse and independent media with high journalistic standards (unlike a lot of corporate media who have other financial interests beyond the purely journalistic ones).

[michaelrch]

That headline is about as warmongering and irresponsible as you could come up with C4.

[qianyoupan]

Within very limited minutes the guest gave a quite real images of china today, well balanced understanding! In West media the well balanced opinion is not always common. Thanks for the talks

[barrywong]

The expert’s views are non-thought-provoking, unimaginative and filled with bias:

1. On the Taiwan issue. “Taiwan is not a threat to China” he stated, and therefore China ought to tone down it’s military show of force. That’s a rather odd way of framing the situation. Not a single person in China regards Taiwan as a threat. Rather, they regard Taiwan as a long lost kin whom they would love to welcome back into the family with open arms. The crux of the matter is that US is playing its duplicity game, say one thing and do another. While it says it upholds the one-China policy, in complete contradiction to what it says, it’s trying its darnedest to prevent a peaceful unification of China. It continues to sell more weapons to Taiwan and stoke the separatist sentiments in Taiwan at every opportunity. Is China supposed to just shut up and take it? Can you imagine what would happen if China were to sell arms to the native Hawaiian separatist movement? No leadership in China would be able to maintain power if they just sit idle and do nothing about it. Be real.

2. He “marveled” at how deafening the Chinese propaganda machine is in that nobody utters zero-COVID anymore. He’s implying that the leadership is afraid to mention it because it was such a disastrous policy. The truth of the matter is: China was able to avoid millions of unnecessary deaths by this policy. The people are thankful for the government’s cautious and firm actions. One can argue that they could have relaxed the zero-COVID policy a few months earlier. But that’s neither here nor there. No doubt, their economy will roar back in full throttle in short order. To put things in perspective, those hundreds of thousands of people who have died unnecessarily in the US due to COVID, for instance, were lost forever; there is no recovery for them. China has moved on; zero-COVID was necessary but it’s now behind them.

3. Speaking of propaganda, I would assert that it is 10 times worse in the west than in China. We’ve been told Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction; it was a lie. We’ve been told that Putin is evil and invaded Ukraine unprovoked. The fact that NATO had been expanding further and further east since the fall of the soviets and presented a serious security threat to Russia was swept under the rug. The drama and the media circus from a harmless Chinese weather balloon was pathetic, hysteric and absurd. Around the world outside of the west, people were laughing their pants off. In contrary, a serious expose by a Pulitzer award-winning journalist about the bombing of the Nordstream pipelines was shunned by the collective mainstream media. If all this is not clear state directed propaganda, I don’t know what is.

4. China’s one-party system. It is not the number of parties or number of elections that counts. It is the quality, sincerity and effectiveness of the leadership that matters. China’s ruling class possesses those attributes in spades. In contrast, how many Prime Ministers has the UK had in the last 3 years? I lost track. It did diddly squat for the country and the people. The truth is: the whole lot is incompetent, hubris, lacks courage and vision.

5. It’s clear that China is outdoing the collective west in all dimensions. It has a clear vision of a just, harmonious and prosperous world. It is working tirelessly towards achieving that vision in spite of all the roadblocks the west puts up. In the meantime the west is entirely intoxicated by its imperialistic advantages and hegemonic power and cannot see that the rest of the world is moving on and leaving the west behind.

The views of the said expert is nothing more than the same old conventional wisdom that serves to perpetuate the hegemonic power of the west, at the same time dismiss and put down China’s effort to pursue a grander vision for the country and the world.

[laurastone]

>What's the best way to make money from crypto-investing?

[Guesswhokk]

Don't forget what CCP did against own people, own family, especially those who against dictatorship.

Those in Tibet, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang

[willemhill]

So it’s ok for the US, UK to send military equipment to Ukraine but not for China to send same to Russia. Talk about US, UK, NATO exceptionalism this is a classic example. The US really takes the biscuit in do not as I do, but do as I say hypocrisy.

[dean]

The overwhelming majority of people don’t want war.

[catlinferris]

This is excellent, as a Canadian I try to get sources from all over the world, very helpful here.

[Mrgasman]

Wow... "Weaponized interdependence" that's how i will call my marriage from now on.

[tingks]

Channel 4 News should watch and learn from Redacted to give a true & honest narrative to their viewers.

[jennyaskswhy]

This is very pleasing discourse, indeed!

[HumanBeingsRThinkingBeings]

Mind Begs the Question:
If deploying Weapons, Mercenaries
At USA doorstep (Cuba) - Not Allowed
At Russia, China doorstep (Ukraine, Taiwan) - Allowed
Democracy, Imperialism?

[henglao]

Please suggest that individuals and governments can work towards promoting peace by engaging in open and respectful communication, finding common ground, and seeking peaceful solutions to conflicts. It is also important for us to learn from the mistakes of the past and work towards preventing future conflicts. Education, empathy, and understanding can go a long way in promoting peace and preventing wars.

[BLACKROCKSUCKS]

America will be obliterated we lost every war since Korea. Every last one prove me wrong. We couldn't beat Vietnam.