Competing for a Better Role Relation: International Relations, Sino-US Rivalry and Game of Weiqi

Self Cite

Drawing on the case of Wuhan, this article considers how nationalist discourses evolved in the Chinese context during the COVID-19 pandemic. It adopts a relational perspective to argue that, just as the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed countries’ vulnerability to diverse forms of nationalism and the danger that this presents, it also reveals an irony: how despite being treated as a ‘solution’ to the pandemic, nationalism can only exist and thrive insofar as its alter or Other— represented by the novel coronavirus itself and, for some countries, the ‘China threat’—also thrives. To prevent this from becoming a vicious cycle, the article contends that nationalism is no solution and that new thinking on coexistence is the vaccine needed for securing the post-COVID-19 world order.

Section: Chinese Nationalisms Compared and Reconsideredmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Relational Reflection on Pandemic Nationalism

Yeophantong

Shih

2021

Self Cite

“…The idea of “democratic peace” posits that countries with similar ideologies are unlikely to be involved in political conflicts [ 31 , 50 ]. China and the US have completely different political systems and ideologies, which is why the two countries’ core interests are objectively in conflict [ 58 ]. To maintain its political authority in the Asia–Pacific region, the US has continually engaged in conflicts with China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade Dependence, Uncertainty Expectations, and Sino–U.S. Political Relations

Song

Chen

Hou

2022

This study applies a time-varying parameter/stochastic volatility vector autoregression (TVP-SV-VAR) model to explore the time-varying property of the link between Sino-US political relations and trade. The results indicate that the association of these two variables appears to be unstable. Sino-US political relations have positive and negative impacts on their bilateral trade, and the impact on Chinese imports is stronger than on its exports. In turn, Chinese imports from the US lead to political conflict, while Chinese exports promote peace. The interaction mechanism may originate from the expectations of the future trade environment caused by trade policy uncertainty. The interactions between Sino-US political relations and bilateral trade at different time points are also investigated. The results demonstrate that the link between these two variables is slightly different, depending on the specific status of the bilateral political relationship (friendly, neutral or hostile). Both China and the US should seek common interests to maintain a stable political relationship, and even with an increasing volume of bilateral trade, the risk of political conflicts should not be neglected.

Strategy Adjustments of the United States and the European Union vis-à-vis China: Democratic Global Power Identities and Fluid Polygonal Relations

Noesselt

2022

How are the European Union and its individual member states positioning themselves within the intensifying trade war and power struggles between Washington and Beijing? Does the fact that both the United States and the EU have recently updated their strategic approach to China and continuously underline their democratic regime patterns and support for like-minded systems—contrasted with Beijing as a perceived promoter of an illiberal world order—imply a return of “Cold War” system antagonism? Could this also result in a reemergence of strategic triangles? Shedding light on Washington’s expression of active support for Taiwan (and Hong Kong) and EUrope’s related position statements, this article concludes that these emerging constellations would best be described as strategic polygonal relationships. While the EU Commission seeks to formulate a common foreign and security strategy, the various EU member states are defining their distinct positions within the new global power matrix emerging between Washington and Beijing.