Open AccessCovid 19 and the China Challenge: Interrogating the Domestic International Nexus in Beijing’s Coronavirus Response
Author(s) -
Benjamin Ho
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
national security journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2703-1934
pISSN - 2703-1926
DOI - 10.36878/nsj20210716.01
Subject(s) - china , geopolitics , beijing , political science , offensive , government (linguistics) , pandemic , political economy , power (physics) , politics , nexus (standard) , sovereignty , criticism , covid-19 , development economics , sociology , law , economics , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , physics , management , disease , pathology , quantum mechanics , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , embedded system
This article considers China’s political manoeuvers between February and October 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to devastate many parts of the world. It argues that the pandemic has exacerbated geopolitical tensions between China, the United States and the West. Consequently, Chinese policy-makers perceive the existence of a broad Western front which seeks to contain its global ambitions, as well as to de-legitimise the rule of the Chinese government domestically. In response, the Chinese government has attempted to shore up its territorial claims while embarking on a global diplomatic offensive to cast itself as a responsible power and at the same time call into question the West’s ability to practice global leadership. Taken together, these narratives have emboldened China to attempt and seize the moral high ground while at the same time undermine Western criticism that it was an uncooperative and opportunistic power that had taken advantage of the pandemic to pursue its own selfish agenda.