US President Joe Biden recently made his most explicit declaration about American support for Taiwan in the event that China attempted to forcibly reclaim the island. When asked if US armed forces would rush to Taiwan’s defence, he replied “yes”. It was a startling answer given that the US’s long-standing policy was one of “strategic ambiguity”, whereby it provided the island with arms but left it open as to whether American soldiers would fight on its behalf.
Some will welcome this as Mr Biden championing a plucky little democracy. But try looking at it from Beijing’s perspective. China views Taiwan as a renegade province, and as Mr Biden also maintained that he stood by the US’s “One China” policy, which “acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China”, he was not advocating for independence. Neither is US support for Taiwan based on the fact that it is a democracy. America took the island’s side when it was an authoritarian state for decades because it was non-communist.
So Mr Biden is prepared to risk a catastrophic conflagration for an island he has no treaty obligation to defend, all to stop it being ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. Given that he tacitly concedes that Taiwan is still part of China, whose CCP leadership is internationally recognised, Beijing may well feel entitled to ask: who is the aggressor here?
The western failure to try to understand – not necessarily agree with – China’s point of view is at the heart of an intriguing new book. ChinaPhobia – A Wasted Opportunity, by Karim Alwadi and Mohammad Kheir Alwadi, looks at what, it is easy to forget, is a fairly recent phenomenon. It was only in 2015, after all, that the then British prime minister David Cameron described UK-China relations as being in a “golden era”.
Both sides frequently misunderstand each other. But the demonisation is one-sided
Since then Nato has declared China a strategic priority for the first time, saying the country challenges the alliance’s “interests, security and values”. Mr Biden has been trying to create an “alliance of democracies”, which many view as an anti-China bloc. And the breathlessly hawkish new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, is reported to be considering labelling China a “threat” to national security.
The book’s two authors are father and son. The elder Mr Alwadi is a former Syrian ambassador to China, while the younger was educated and still lives in China, where he holds academic positions and has a Chinese wife. This gives them a perspective less heard, and a valuable one, as they are not in thrall to what they call the American insistence that “their beliefs and principles … are inalienable rights for all the peoples of the world”. They acknowledge that there are other value systems, and that China’s has millennia-old roots.
They are sympathetic to the new confidence apparent in China in the 21st century, reflecting the huge strides it had made economically, lifting 800 million people out of poverty, and culminating, as one former leader tells the authors, “when the American leadership resorted to asking our assistance to overcome the difficulties of the financial crisis that afflicted America in 2007".
China under President Xi Jinping no longer felt the need to “hide your strength and bide your time”, as the former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping counselled. Beijing’s comparative assertiveness over, for instance, its claims in the South China Sea, led to pushback and the firm conviction in Washington, according to the authors, that China wanted to take the mantle of global leadership from the US. Not so, they say, arguing that China has neither the capacity nor the desire to take on such a role. What most Chinese want, they write, in a future when their economy overshadows that of the US, is for the China-US relationship to be “characterised by equality”.
Some may think that naive, but the authors’ case that if China has become a US adversary, it is “an adversary that insists on the path of peaceful development and peaceful advancement”, is backed by the facts. As they write: “China is the only major power that had no war in the last 40 years … while rejecting the policy of alliances, axes and global military confrontations.”
No one has been able to substantiate the claim that Beijing is trying to force its governance model on other countries. No sovereign nation fears invasion by the People’s Liberation Army. No country has had predatory loans thrust upon them by the Belt and Road Initiative; in fact, many have benefitted from the subsequent infrastructure projects. Mr Alwadi senior even argues that due to intense competition among Chinese companies for BRI contracts, profits on such projects have fallen from about 30 per cent to less than 10 per cent.
Yet in its own neighbourhood, China faces the US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system in South Korea; Japan is moving to a more outward-facing defence policy and is due to increase spending significantly; and Australia, the UK and the US announced a new trilateral security pact, Aukus, last year. Against whom could all these enhanced capabilities be used, one wonders?
America’s trade war, say the authors, is also seen as unfairly targeting China in a manner reminiscent of the 19th-century Opium Wars, with the goal of both being “to prevent China from catching up with global industrial revolutions”.
If everything China does is seen through the lens of suspicion by the West, the authors concede that the country is not good at projecting soft power, and that clarity about its objectives is often missing. Both sides frequently misunderstand each other. But the demonisation is one-sided. US hawks disappointed that China’s economic liberalisation was not followed by political liberalisation need to get over themselves; that is not going to happen. That does not mean that the peaceful rise of a country that has never sought global dominion should be feared. That, as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in 2019, would be “a strategic miscalculation and reflects a lack of self-confidence … Neither of our two countries can replace the other.”
The Alwadis have particular reasons for wishing to avoid conflict between the two powers. “As Syrians, we have been living through the devastating costs of war firsthand,” the father writes. “That is why we hope the US and China can avoid escalating their current tensions, and respect can replace growing ChinaPhobia.” Amen to that.
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The five pillars of Islam
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
More on animal trafficking
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
More coverage from the Future Forum
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Honeymoonish
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 258hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.1L/100km
Price: from Dh362,500
On sale: now
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
Read more about the coronavirus
The years Ramadan fell in May
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Afcon 2019
SEMI-FINALS
Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm
Algeria v Nigeria, 11pm
Matches are live on BeIN Sports
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Draw for Europa League last-16
Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe
Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United
