China as a Bogeyman?
Will the President’s handling of Covid-19 be his Achilles’ Heel?
The rapidly rising number of Covid-19 cases in the United States from the beginning of February have shone a spotlight on the Trump administration’s mismanagement of the crisis. ‘China-bashing’ has become Trump’s go-to strategy, especially ahead of the 2020 presidential elections, in an attempt to divert blame from his administration’s less than stellar response to the situation. This seems like a re-run of 2016, when Trump pinned the United States’ socio-economic distress on China. Covid-19 has revealed the gross inequalities that exist in the United States, as the virus has affected minorities disproportionately. With 40 million people living in poverty and with the threat of the virus looming large over them, Trump has stacked the cards in his favour by associating the virus with China.
Does it all come down to trade?
In May 2020, the U.S threatened to permanently cut funding to the W.H.O, accusing it of being China-centric. From the trade perspective, Trump could hold China accountable by touching upon China’s inability to honour its commitments in the Phase one trade deal, which would likely lead to an escalation in trade tensions between now and November. Trump has of late veered between pinning the blame on China and striking a more conciliatory tone, praising Chinese President Xi Jinping’s handling of the virus. However, Trump’s senior advisors and top Republicans, believe that his best shot at victory in the 2020 Presidential election is to cast China as the ‘Bogeyman’. The Trump administration seems to have put China at the centre of its political ideology. In April 2020, Politico reported that an apparent memo given by the National Republican Senatorial Committee instructed Republicans to address the Covid-19 crisis by aggressively attacking China. It has been used by both Republicans and Democrats as an agenda to assert dominance over adversaries.
What does the poll say?
Pew Research Centre’s recent poll showed that 66% Americans view China unfavourably and 62% believe that China is a threat to America. Politicians have used this public opinion to their advantage and pushed the anti-China agenda as a winning strategy in their election campaigns. In light of the devastating effects of the virus on the U.S economy, the rallying rhetoric seems to have shifted from patriotism with the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan to deflecting the blame with a ‘Let’s get tough on China’ slogan. In recent days, the clash between the United States and China seems to have taken the form of a technology tug-of-war. Keeping Tik Tok in the US market would involve Walmart and Oracle taking a minority stake in a US based company called Tik Tok Global. This deal seems to be heavily politicised. The retaliation measures are likely to fracture the global technology market and the move seems to be more of a political agenda than a security-related one. China seems to have drawn the short end of straw as it has become the ‘Bogeyman’ in the days leading up to the US 2020 Presidential Election.
