Beijing: Antagonisms between the US and China are rattling governments around the world, prompting a German official to warn of Cold War 2.0 and Kenya’s president to appeal for unity to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Global trade already was depressed by two years of tariff warring between the world’s two biggest economies. That rancour has spread to include Hong Kong, Chinese Muslims, spying accusations and control of the South China Sea.
Caught in the middle, other world governments are trying to defend their own interests.
GERMANY:
Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to preserve trade and cooperation on global warming but says security law tightening Beijing’s control over Hong Kong is a difficult issue.” The potential disruption from the Hong Kong security law of the autonomy Beijing promised to the former British colony is no reason to stop talking but is a worrying development, Merkel said on Monday.
FRANCE:
President Emmanuel Macron calls President Donald Trump my friend but is trying to avoid riling Beijing.
France has not echoed Trump’s criticism of Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus, but legislators applauded Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian last week when he condemned abuses of minority Uighurs in China’s northwest.
EUROPE: Europe’s strategic relations with China will be an issue for the European Union while Germany holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc, Merkel said this month. EU foreign ministers have not managed to agree on a common position on China.
Regarding Hong Kong, options include closer scrutiny of exports of sensitive technology to the territory and changing visa policies for its residents. But there is no talk of economic sanctions or targeting Chinese officials with penalties.
SOUTH KOREA:
South Korea is squeezed between its main military ally and its biggest trading partner.
The U.S.-Chinese row has thrown a question to South Korea” about which side to choose, the newspaper Dong-A Ilbo said in an editorial on Monday.
AFRICA:
China-U.S. tensions are taking a toll: The African Development Bank said last year trade disruption due to the tariff war could lead to a 2.5 per cent drop in economic output for some African countries. (AP)