Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/14/china-says-will-strike-back-for-reckless-u-s-actions
Earlier this week the U.S applied heavy sanctions on China for abusing human rights, specifically with Uighur Muslims. China has come out and publicly stated that ¨We urge the US to immediately withdraw the relevant wrong decision and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and harming China’s interests¨. This news is also concerning as the two nations are each other’s top trade partners and the world’s largest economies. Beijing has repeatedly stated that it will make attacks on the US if these sanctions continue. The sanctions used by the US were caused by the accused genocide,crimes against humanity, and torture if minorities in China specifically Uighur Muslims. This has been repeatedly denied by Beijing who has stated that they will defend their national interests and that the US should not interfere with their sovereignty. This hardline approach has put their relationship on a dangerous path.
My take on the article is this is an economical showdown between hegemonic super powers. These two countries now have been each other’s greatest and worst partners. China’s rapid expansion of its power, and the US trying to keep its top position, this is a very complex topic. The US is trying to stand up as a global leader and halt human rights abuse, which accusations are against mainly Uighur musilms. On China’s side they are trying to make a pure Han majority so they will have a more unified society. This unification in China’s eyes might make it easier to oppress, leading to China’s actions as an authoritarian government.
This article relates to class on the new topic of geopolitics. Both countries are considered world powers because of their complete control or major influence over strategically important places. Both countries rule over a realm. The US has the maritime realm while China has major if not complete control over east asian realm. These two countries, although great in power, have used different ways to control their realms. For a while the US used the grand-strategy of Liberal hegemony to control everyone and everything, and to obey their rules. While now they have taken a step back and are leaning towards using what’s called offshore balancing to maintain power. China went from full restraint grand-strategy to full liberal hegemony to forcibly make others follow their rules,with their overwhelming economic and military might.