The new Cold War is getting warmer

The new Cold War is getting warmer US and Chinese antagonism in the past week has shown that there’s still room for geopolitical instability in a world united by coronavirus fear The cordial tone struck at trade talks between the US and China on Friday belied a week in which the world’s two biggest powers looked more likely than ever to come to blows. As US President Donald Trump intensifying his rhetoric against Beijing with his now-daily accusations of Chinese culpability for the coronavirus outbreak, the PRC's leaders have bristled with indignance. It’s like the bad old days of the Cold War all over again, writes Gordon Watts in a piece that highlights the growing fractures in the never-warm relationship between the two nations. The manic hyperbole emanating from Beijing and Washington has chilled the diplomatic atmosphere amid the coronavirus pandemic and rising tensions in the South and the East China seas. There are even fears inside President Xi Jinping’s administration that a US-inspired coalition will challenge the Communist Party’s right to rule, Watts writes. To understand the reasons behind Trump’s invective, don’t look for clues in his flip-flopping Tweets, which have tied even him in knots, argues. MK Bhadrakhumar argues there may be three different explanations: the most obvious being that its a cover up for his own parlous response to the pandemic, which has left the US with the highest virus-linked death rate in the world. Such are the depths that the never-terribly-special relationship has plumbed that the US Marines are beefing up to take on an increasingly belligerent China, reports Grant Newsham. With China arming itself to the teeth and jostling for more control over the South China Sea, the Marines – widely seen as the most ferocious and expeditionary force in the Pentagon’s portfolio – are rising to the challenge with new strategies designed to frustrate the People’s Liberation Army in its own neighbouhood. Storms on the horizon: Vietnam is believed to be inching towards filing an international arbitration case against China’s regional maritime claims. For its part, China is upping the stakes too, according to Pepe Escobar, who argues that in response, the nation is turbo-charging a number of economic plans to protect its economy while also projecting its influence beyond its borders. That includes restoring the productivity of the Made in China machine and the controversial – and by some reports, stalling – Belt and Road Initiative to restore its own global supply chains. It also includes the digital yuan, which China hopes will topple the dollar as the world’s dominant reserve currency. It’s in the South China Sea, however, that China’s growing geopolitical muscularity is causing much concern. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo accused China of “exploiting” the world’s preoccupation with the coronavirus pandemic by carrying out provocations in the maritime area. A string of incidents involving the PLA’s navy and those of four Southeast Asian neighbors highlights what John McBeth describes as part of a divide and conquer strategy. One of those neighbours, Vietnam, is believed to be inching towards filing an international arbitration case against China’s expansive maritime claims, a potential legal response to the rising intimidation and harassment in the contested waterway, writes David Hutt. And as if that wasn’t enough, now Japan appears to be ratcheting up its preparations for darker days in the region. Its defense ministry is developing what it calls an anti-ship “hypervelocity gliding projectile,” or HVGP, for deployment on island bases, reports Dave Makichuk. It is a weapon that could cause havoc for the Chinese navy in the South China Sea, and the Japanese military plan to put it in use by 2026 — a “game changer,” as it’s described by ATLA, the agency developing the missile. Read the full stories on Asia Times Cold War chill sweeps through China and the US Deciphering Trump’s political attacks on China  US marines revamp amid China’s growing threat China has oil and gas trump card on US China squeezes debt repayments from virus-hit nations China forges ahead through chaos and threats Vietnam may soon sue China on South China Sea China plays divide and rule in South China Sea Japan raises stakes with hypersonic missiles MORE TRENDING STORIES India’s miserly response a path to viral collapse  Unlike the trillion dollar measures rolled out by the United States and Japan, India is putting forward a comparatively miserly US$25 billion in government support for its coronavirus-hit economy. 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