The CCP Is Alone in Its Anti-American Alliance

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (C) walks towards the Monument to the People's Heroes at Tiananmen Square during a wreath-laying ceremony marking Martyrs' Day in Beijing on Sept. 30, 2019. (Madoka Ikegami/AFP/Getty Images)

Commentary

The senior leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wanted to win over a few so-called allies to form an anti-American alliance but found themselves standing alone in the anti-American front. On the surface, Russia, North Korea, and Iran appear to be helping the CCP against the United States, but they are actually pushing the CCP to the forefront, each taking the opportunity to seek benefits for themselves.

The Regime’s Embarrassing Isolation

On April 7, Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the regime’s mouthpiece Xinhua News reported.

To the CCP, Germany is the weakest link in the Western camps. Top CCP leaders always used Germany as their last resort during internationally desperate conditions.

Xi once again pinned his hopes on Germany when the CCP was in a direct stalemate with the United States and Europe. The call to Germany’s leader shows that the CCP has fallen into international isolation.

Xinhua’s report mainly covered what Xi said in the phone call: “he hopes that Germany will remain open and create more convenience for the enterprises of both countries to expand mutually beneficial cooperation.” “China stands ready to work with the EU... and jointly practice multilateralism,” and “promote fair and reasonable vaccine distribution.”

Of course, Xi hopes that Germany and Europe will not join forces with the United States to fight against the CCP. At the same time, he continues to draw a big piece of the pie for German companies and tout cooperation on vaccines.

As for Merkel’s reaction? Xinhua reported, “Merkel said that the EU upholds independence in its foreign relations.” Such a statement at least shows that Germany will not stand on the side of the CCP. In fact, Japan and Germany are about to hold 2+2 ministerial talks on foreign affairs and national defense. I wonder if Xi and Merkel discussed this specific issue.

Xinhua also stated that Merkel “hopes to maintain communication with China on issues such as fair distribution and mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccines.”

This kind of call, without much consensus and no actual results, is merely symbolic. This call just revealed the awkward position of the CCP in the world.

CCP and Iran Take Advantage of Each Other

On March 27, Iran and the CCP signed a 25-year $400 billion strategic and economic partnership. It continues to fuel the CCP’s ongoing Belt and Road Initiative for hegemony.

The CCP certainly hopes to use Iran and the terrorist organizations it supports to drag the U.S. military further into the Middle East, but after the first round of indirect tentative military engagements between the new U.S. government and Iran in Syria in Februrary, Iran has not increased its military provocations against the United States. In fact, Iran began negotiating with the United States on April 7 in order to strive for greater benefits. Iran may be using the CCP’s recent large-scale challenge to the United States in the Pacific as a bargaining chip.

Lloyd Austin, the new U.S. Secretary of Defense, has rich practical experience in the Middle East and should also attach great importance to the situation in the Middle East. However, he did not propose a plan to increase troops in the Middle East. Instead, he is implementing a plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Naturally, Iran does not want the U.S. military to be stationed in its surrounding areas on a large scale. Iran should hope that the CCP will provoke the U.S. military more in the Pacific, which will reduce Iran’s pressure, and it may be beneficial to the U.S.-Iran negotiations. Iran ultimately hopes to reach an agreement instead of going to war with the U.S. military.

North Korea Is More Words Than Actions

After the tense China-U.S. meeting in Alaska, the CCP immediately interacted openly with North Korea. North Korea also conducted its short-range missile test. North Korea even issued statements of threat to the White House. But it has not made high-profile claims about nuclear tests, nor has it launched high-level long-range ballistic missiles.

North Korea and the CCP continue to spin their roles in intimidating the United States, but North Korea seems to know when to stop. After all, the new U.S. government has publicly stated that it has been trying to communicate with North Korea through the original channels. The ultimate goal of North Korea is to use nuclear weapons as a bargaining chip to achieve a breakthrough in relations with the United States. North Korea should know that the CCP is not strong enough to be an opponent of the United States, and North Korea is not even qualified to challenge the United States. Kim Jong-un knew that once a war is engaged with the United States, he himself would be beheaded soon, and he would not dare to take such a risk.

North Korea does not really want to fight a proxy war for the CCP. If the China-U.S. conflict intensifies, North Korea may still have a chance to break the ice with the United States as long as it does not blindly rush forward. If China-U.S. relations really ease, North Korea may become an abandoned pawn. Therefore, when the Chinese aircraft carrier rushed to the Pacific again, North Korea kept silent.

Russia Is Also Using the CCP

Russia’s military actions have attracted the attention of the United States, but they are not helping the CCP to contain the U.S. military. The U.S. military should have no intention to intervene in any possible wars between Russia and Ukraine. On the contrary, Russia may be taking advantage of the CCP’s further antagonism with the United States and the West by trying to fish in troubled waters and trying to resolve its conflicts with Ukraine. This is an ethnic conflict in the former Soviet Republic or the Commonwealth of Independent States and has little to do with the interests of the United States. Of course, the United States does not want to see war in any region, nor does it want Russia to arbitrarily undermine international rules.

In fact, NATO is more affected by Russia’s move, which actually sounded the alarm to NATO European countries. Faced with the imminent threat, Ukraine also revealed its desire to join NATO. Russia has made it clear that it will not form a military alliance with the CCP. Instead, it should hope that the CCP will provoke the U.S. military more. It is best to pull both aircraft carriers to the Pacific and South China Seas. Russia’s political pressure of aggression against Ukraine will be reduced a lot if the CCP continues to engage in its hostile act against the EU.

I don’t think Russia has any intention to help the CCP to target the United States at all. Russia is trying to strengthen its own interests during the international chaos created by CCP’s attacks from all sides.

The CCP wants to win over and take advantage of Russia, Iran, and North Korea. These three countries may have their own commitments to the CCP in private, but none of them have rushed to the forefront of anti-Americanism. Only the CCP itself is the most vigorous. These three countries are actually taking advantage of the CCP, losing no time in seeking their own interests.

The CCP’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi also recently met with the foreign ministers of South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Of course, he also tried to draw these neighboring countries to China’s side. But it is clear that these countries are unlikely to be on the anti-U.S. camp.

South Korea has just agreed to Seoul’s financial support of the extensive U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula; Malaysia has just conducted joint military exercises with the U.S. military in the South China Sea; and there are U.S. military bases in the Philippines and Singapore. These countries all rely on U.S. military protection.

When China and the United States are in confrontation, these countries are taking advantage of the opportunity to their best benefit and avoiding offending either one. The top-level CCP officials cannot count on these countries to be anti-American. They can only try to prove to the party members that there are still communications with some countries. Of course, they have to pay a high price to these countries in private. That’s all the top officials of the CCP can do.

The CCP’s anti-American alliance obviously failed to form, instead it pushed itself further into an isolated frontline.

Yang Wei has been closely following China affairs for many years. He has been contributing political commentary on China for the Chinese language Epoch Times since 2019.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.