China, Covid-19 and the West

Earlier this year, as what would become known as Covid-19 struck Wuhan, there was some discussion about how China’s GDP might temporarily fall and what impact that fall might have on the world economy. There was little sense that the disease might become a pandemic and affect the whole world. Now, with most Western countries facing unprecedented falls in economic output, China appears to have ridden the storm remarkably well. Like it or not, the UK, EU and US are remarkably dependent upon on China – and not just for PPE. Beyond the tempers on all sides, what real cleavages – China vs the West, China vs its neighbours, and among Western allies over tactics toward Beijing – can we expect to develop in 2020-21? Austin Williams and James Woudhuysen discuss.