SINGAPORE: As protests over the police killing of George Floyd raged in the US, the chaotic scenes of fire and tear gas called to mind the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong which started a year ago.
Chinas pent-up anger at US support of the Hong Kong protests found a release, as its diplomats jumped on the opportunity to conflate the two protests and accuse the US of hypocrisy and double standards.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian questioned the US reference to those Hong Kong protesters as heroes while labeling American protesters thugs.
In late May, when the US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus tweeted about the US warning against the national security law in Hong Kong, her Chinese counterpart Hua Chunying responded by tweeting “I cant breathe”, the protest slogan associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Commentators have observed that the behaviour of Chinese diplomats on social media is increasingly converging with that of Chinese netizens and trolls, notorious for being touchy, nationalistic, and truculent.
Just as the tactics of Chinese online army often backfired, Chinese diplomats taunts were also less efficacious than they were thought to be on open, non-Chinese platforms like Twitter.
Ironically, while Huas provocative tweet was meant to expose the US hypocrisy, responses to Huas tweet suggested China ought to look at its own backyard. Supporters of Hong Kong protestors, for example, posted images of Hong Kongers being manhandled by the police alongside the question “Can Hong Kongers breathe”?
With the two global powers trading barbs over issues including each others handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are wondering if China and the US are on the brink of a new Cold War.
TIT-FOR-TAT
Taking stock of recent developments, US-China relations do appear to be at a low point with tensions ratcheting up over the past months.
People wearing face masks are seen at a Huawei shop on a street as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Shanghai, China March 5, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song/Files
On the trade front, the US announced in mid-May new export controls to block Chinese technology giant Huawei's access to American semiconductor chips. Under new rules, chipmakers using US technology and software cannot ship to Huawei without government permission.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump has also moved to limit US government pension funds from investing in Chinese equities.
In retaliation, China threatened to put US tech companies on an “unreliable entity list”.
READ: Commentary: US-China trade, once the thorn in bilateral ties, could now be the solution
Prior to this, Trump and his administration have doubled up on blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump openly used the term "Chinese virus" to describe the coronavirus and his administration has also threatened to seek reparations from China for its alleged cover up of the outbreak.
Then again, the Trump administration may have been retaliating against Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhaos tweet in March, which claimed that US Army troops brought the coronavirus to China.
READ: Commentary: What's really behind the China coronavirus cover-up theory
These tit-for-tat moves have even trickled down into civil society. In March, Beijing expelled American journalists at three US newspapers, in response to Washingtons new restrictions on Chinese state media firms in the US.
The US hit back by drastically reducing the number of journalists permitted to work at four key Chinese state-owned media outlets in the US.
In the sphere of education, effective from Jun 1, Chinese students and scholars who have ties to the Chinese military will be barred from entering the US to pursue graduate-level research. Existing visas of Chinese nationals suspected of having military links may also be suspended.
A masked protester attends a "March of Gratitude to the US" event in Hong Kong, China December 1, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
But the latest flashpoint in US-China ties is Hong Kongs special status under the 1992 US-Hong Kong Policy Act.
In response to Beijings decision to legislate the national security law in Hong Kong, Trump in late May revoked Hong Kongs preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory from the rest of China.
Trumps move could jeopardise Hong Kongs status as a global business and financial hub.
Sino-US tensions over Hong Kong have long been brewing. Last November, defying Chinas repeated warnings, Trump signed into legislation the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would allow the US to sanction Hong Kong and PRC officials responsible for eroding Hong Kongs autonomy.
READ: Commentary: The intractable tug of war between China and Hong Kong
READ: Commentary: Autonomy cannot be Hong Kongs future. Hong Kongers know this
THE TRADE TRUCE
Amid the tit-for-tat between the two great powers, however, the long-drawn trade war has reached a truce. The phase one trade deal agreed by both last December still appears to be in force.
On May 8, Chinese and US officials reaffirmed their phase one trade deal commitments over the phone.
China has already increased its imports of US pork in return for US concessions under the phase one deal.
Both sides reciprocally slashed tariffs in February. China has committed to progressively exempt some US imports from tariffs, the latest being a new list of US commodities excluded from tariffs announced on May 12.
In what may be seen as a move to de-escalate tensions, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Politburo member Yang Jiechi for top-level talks in Hawaii this week.
READ: Commentary: Why China signed an unequal trade deal with the US
READ: 'Lemon' or not, Trump is stuck with Phase 1 China trade deal
DECOUPLING EASIER SAID THAN DONE
The war of words between the US and China may be more bark than bite, for now at least.
US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Photo: AFP/Jim WATSON, PETER KLAUNZER)
Trump, who is campaigning for re-election this November, told Fox News on May 14 that the US “could cut off the whole relationship” with China.
The Presidents macho posturing would resonate with the US domestic audience. A recent Pew Global Survey showed that a record high of two-thirds (66 per cent) of US adults said they had a negative view of China, a 20 per cent jump from the beginning of the Trump administration.
On the Chinese side, the belligerent words of diplomats are also intended for the CRead More – Source
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