Here’s a thought experiment. If Taiwan didn’t exist, would the United States and China be at loggerheads? In my opinion, yes. Antagonism between great powers and emerging powers is a constant in human history.

Then, assuming that China has a democratic rather than a one-party regime, one might wonder if such tensions will continue. It’s hard to say, but it’s not clear if a democratically elected government would be less resentful of a world order led by the United States. It’s also hard to imagine under what circumstances Americans would be willing to share the spotlight.

Suffice it to say that discussions about the possibility of a conflict between the US and China are no longer far-fetched. Countries rarely change their tinsel: China remains the Celestial Empire and wants to avenge decades of Western humiliation; America there dangerous nation is looking for monsters to destroy. Each of the two actors is in his role.

The intransigence of two giants

It remains to be seen if planetary stability can survive the intransigence of these two giants who both want victory. Presumably, if the US and China break the deadlock, then this will be a movement not towards an agreement, but towards war.

In early March, Chinese President Xi Jinping went further than ever by accusing the United States of“dam”from“circle” and D’“strangle” his country. He could practice provocative rhetoric, but in principle he was not mistaken. US President Joe Biden officially remains in favor of cooperation with China.

But Biden was blown off course as easily as a weather balloon. Washington’s panic over what was never anything but 19th-century technologye century [allusion au ballon “espion” envoyé par Pékin] prompted US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to cancel a visit to Beijing in early February that was supposed to pave the way for