Europe, China, Japan and The New World Order (Source thetrumpet.com)

The alliance between the United States and Western Europe was the stabilizing bond of the post-World War II world order. The breakup of this alliance has been the subject of many articles. It is perhaps this development that most concerns world leaders. This is not just a passing phase due to the presidency of Donald Trump. Tensions within the nato alliance have been increasing for years. Even during the Cold War, France tried to steer between the two superpowers, and Germany tried to keep its options open. In spite of these tensions, the alliance held together for seven decades. Now, however, relations have plunged to an all-time low. China sees these transatlantic ties weakening, and it senses an opportunity. If President Trump makes an unpopular trip to Europe, Chinese leaders follow with a visit of their own. If America makes a move that Europeans don’t like, China does the opposite. President Trump denounces free trade? Chinese President Xi Jinping comes to Davos to personally denounce protectionism. Mr. Trump pulls out of the Paris climate-change accords? The EU and China publish a document calling the accords a “historic achievement” and sign their first-ever bilateral agreement on climate change.The European Union is already China’s largest trading partner. Many European leaders, including German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, have already aggressively called for the EU to turn to China in order to counter President Trump. A Pew survey published in July found that majorities in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain all believe that China is the world’s leading economic power. The two also already have a massive trade relationship. China is the EU’s biggest source of imports and number two destination for exports. Trade between the two averages over €1 billion a day. No wonder Andrei Lungu, president of the Romanian Institute for the Study of the Asia-Pacific, concluded that “the stars are perfectly aligned for the EU-China partnership to reach its full potential and become the world’s G-2”. As an economic giant without a geopolitical or military footprint in the Asia-Pacific, the EU is in a perfect position to engage with China,” he noted. “If the world’s foremost power has decided to go on vacation, somebody needs to take over its responsibilities,” he wrote. “The EU and China, the other two world economic powers, are the only ones that can.”