- On Monday, China repossessed the US consulate in Chengdu, in response to the closure of its consulate in Houston, ordered by the Trump administration last week.
- These diplomatic tensions arise against a backdrop of commercial rivalries and mutual accusations about the origin of Covid-19 between the two powers.
- 20 Minutes discusses these tensions with Jean-Vincent Brisset, research director at Iris.
A game of diplomatic ping-pong between the two world giants. On Monday, China "took possession" of the US consulate in Chengdu, after ordering its closure. The move is the Communist government's response to the forced closure of its Houston consulate, ordered by the Trump administration last week. 20 Minutes looks back on these tensions, which occur in a context of deterioration of Sino-American relations for several months.
Has a step been taken in the escalation of tensions?
Mike Pompeo justified the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, denouncing Thursday a "hub of espionage and theft of intellectual property." The US Secretary of State also called on "the free world" to "triumph" over the "new tyranny" embodied, according to him, by Communist China. In retaliation, Beijing accused some US employees of the Chengdu consulate of "endangering Chinese security and interests."
“Closing a consulate is a relatively strong diplomatic gesture, above the expulsion of diplomats. We have gone up a notch in the tensions between the two countries, even if there are no direct consequences, we remain above all in the symbolism ”, relativizes Jean-Vincent Brisset, director of research at Iris . The Chinese reaction seems relatively measured. In addition to its embassy in Beijing, the United States still has four consulates in mainland China (Canton, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan) as well as one in Hong Kong. A diplomatic closure on this autonomous territory, requested by some Chinese nationalists, would have fueled the escalation of tensions much more.
How to explain these tensions?
These diplomatic actions are taking place in an already delicate context. Relations between the two giants are regularly affected by trade disputes or military tensions in the South China Sea. But the tone has been turned up a notch in recent months with mutual accusations about the origin of Covid-19 and Beijing's implementation of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong.
The two states have also taken reciprocal sanctions over Xinjiang, with the United States accusing Beijing of violating the rights of Uyghur Muslims in this region of northwestern China. "In reality, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping want to show their own people that they are strong because the two leaders are in difficulty, it is an old political trick", assures Jean-Vincent Brisset. “The American president, much criticized for his management of the epidemic crisis, is campaigning for his re-election. But the Chinese leader is also experiencing opposition problems, as illustrated by the maintenance of his major anti-corruption campaign launched five years ago to eliminate his enemies and which is still active, ”adds the specialist.
How far can tensions go?
For the researcher, these tensions between the two giants are inherent to their status. This is the old concept of Thucydides' trap: the rivalry between an emerging power that dreams of hegemony and a dominant power that intends to remain so. "The competition between the top two in the class has always existed, and the two countries need this rivalry to be in the lead", explains Jean-Vincent Brisset.
By the fifth century BC, the rapid development of Athens had led to war with Sparta. Could we imagine a military clash today? “There are risks of confrontation, especially in the China Sea. And the risk of accident is still present, as it happened in April 2001 after the collision of two military planes, develops the researcher. But we are very far from a state of war, the two countries have no interest in an armed confrontation ”.
World
China: The American flag no longer flies over the United States consulate in Chengdu
World
United States: Targeted by an arrest warrant, a Chinese researcher takes refuge in a consulate
- Tensions
- Xi Jinping
- Diplomacy
- Coronavirus
- China
- United States
- Donald trump
- World