When it was confirmed that Donald Trump would return to the White House, the world began to prepare for what would be a turbulent future. However, the West probably never imagined that the magnate, in addition to imposing hundreds of tariffs, would be capable of threatening a NATO member like Denmark with force. And this 2.0 version of the president, whose main objective is to contain the rise of China, is achieving the unimaginable: bringing the West closer to Beijing.
The distancing of Western countries from Washington was evident last week at the Davos Forum when the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, recognized the breakdown of the world order in which “every day we are reminded that we live in an era of rivalry between great powers, that the rules-based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.”
“More recently, great powers have begun to use economic integration as weapons. In a world of great power rivalry, intermediate countries have a choice: compete with each other for favors or join together to create a third path with impact,” he added, making it clear that Canada will not submit to the United States, its historical ally.
Is the West turning towards China?
The best example of a shift toward China came this week when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in the Asian giant hoping to revitalize business ties.
Starmer’s four-day visit to China will be the first by a British prime minister since 2018. And, far from being a fluke, it follows Carney’s earlier this month, making him the first Canadian prime minister to visit Beijing since 2017.
During Carney’s visit, both countries signed an economic agreement to break down trade barriers and forge a new strategic relationship. And, in a statement that would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago, Carney described China as “a more predictable and reliable partner.”
Along these lines, during the Davos Forum, French President Emmanuel Macron, one of Trump’s most critical European leaders, called for more Chinese foreign direct investments (FDI) in “some key sectors” of the Old Continent.
“China is welcome, but what we need is more Chinese direct foreign investment in Europe, in some key sectors. This will allow us to contribute to our growth, transfer some technologies, and not only for China to export to Europe some devices or products that sometimes do not meet the same standards, or are much more subsidized than those produced on our continent,” Macron said.
Different solutions to adapt to the new world
According to the Canadian Prime Minister, “there is a strong tendency for countries to play along to get along, to accommodate, to avoid problems. But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered.”
For this reason, Carney urged middle powers, such as Canada, Brazil, Turkey or India, to act “together. If we are not at the table, we are on the menu.” But Starmer, leader of one of the most powerful countries in history, doesn’t believe this is the right path.
In fact, the British Prime Minister explained that he is “a British pragmatist who applies common sense, and that is why I am glad that we have a good relationship with the United States on defense, security, intelligence and trade and prosperity. It is very important that we maintain that good relationship.”
But Starmer has recently made his pragmatism clear: Before traveling to the Asian Giant, he managed to get China’s project to build its largest embassy in all of Europe in London approved.
Starmer has made it clear that he wants to cooperate, compete and challenge Beijing when necessary: ”Obviously, China is the second largest economy in the world, one of our largest trading partners. But under the last government, we went from the golden age to the ice age. And what I want to do is follow a comprehensive and coherent approach towards China.”
“There are opportunities, but obviously we will never compromise national security by taking advantage of them. (…) it makes no sense to bury our heads in the sand and bury it in the sand when it comes to China, it is in our best interest to dialogue,” he stated.
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