The coronavirus pandemic will fuel the already-bad rivalry between the U.S. and China, and could even tilt the balance of global power in Beijing’s favour, analysts say.
Tensions have already flared on a few fronts since the pandemic started. Washington and Beijing are sniping at one another about the true extent and origin of the coronavirus outbreak. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs again. The two countries have even squabbled about the South China Sea issue.
“In times of crisis, global rivalries tend to intensify rather than abate. The coronavirus crisis has led to a further deterioration in the already chronically bad relations between China and the US,” The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) added in a note on Wednesday. “The coronavirus epidemic is not the cause of the difficulties in US-China relations, however; it is merely exacerbating trends that have existed for years as both countries compete for economic dominance.”
