PANDEMIC AND CHINA - PART 1

The pandemic Corona virus was first seen in Wuhan city of Hubei province of China in the month of November 2019.  It was dismissed as a viral fever like any other and no serious action was taken.  The first doctor who identified it as a epidemic with no antidote and made an issue out of it, was called to the police station and advised suitably to do only medical work.  He later succumbed to the disease himself.  The virus from a few cases in November 2019 to a few thousands within a few weeks to a few millions in the next two months and continuing is now part of every day media "Breaking News" and discussed hotly in the social media.  There is no need for further recounting the countries affected, numbers of infected, and number of dead etc. Let us look at the scenario that is unfolding in a different direction and the kaleidoscopic view that is being projected.

The western countries in the last three decades, thanks to the Henry Kissinger's initiative to bring China into the mainstream of the western world, shifted most of the manufacturing works to China as the cost of labour is very cheap and extremely controlled as against the highly paid aggressive nature of labour in their own countries.  Slowly, China had emerged as the world's major manufacturing hub. Most of the global companies shifted their manufacturing base to China. Their greed for higher profits with lower operating cost drove them to China to set up manufacturing units there.  The communist China had been very patiently watching these companies making huge profits at the cost of the local population with low wages and inhuman working conditions imposed on them by them. The profits were being taken out China to their parent countries to make them prosperous.  Not that the cities where the manufacturing units were set up in China did not prosper.  The nouveau riche millionaires of China started investing in other country's businesses, and their investment in the leather business in northern Italy is well documented and well known now.

The government of USA had been borrowing heavily from the international market through their treasury bonds for sustaining their many expansion programs in many fields including space and their ever burgeoning military expenditure.  Most of the countries, given the exchange rate of the US dollar vis-a-vis the local currency invest in these bonds and they are used to shore up the country's reserve against the paper money printed by the respective governments.  China with their hefty coffers is one of the countries who had heavily invested in those treasury bonds.  Given this scenario, the Chinese have been having a vice like grip on the economy of the country of the size of USA.  Added to this China had been going round trying to revive its silk road project, Belt and Roads etc. with some of the western countries.  Not many were enthused except of course Italy in the B&R.  

China had been trying to take over the economy of the world by lending liberally to many smaller nations.  In these countries the investment and the terms of investment by China is such that over a period of time the Chinese take over of these geographical areas is a possibility. The Humpanthota port in Srilanka, the Gwadar port in Pakistan, the COEP with Pakistan, various other pacts with other countries are all pointers to the design of the Chinese authorities in this direction.  The hand of the Chinese president is very clearly seen in most of these economic support to struggling nations.  All these had been and continue to be done with some long term geographical benefits to the country.  

The USA since the last presidential election and the incumbent president taking over had been feeling the heat of China in every move of it to secure for itself a prime place not just politically but economically.  If the catch phrase to make "America Great Again" is not to be consigned to the dust bin, the US government has to work to bring China to its knees.  With this in mind, the Trump administration had been bringing in many changes to international trade with other countries especially China. The trade war between China and USA is now well documented with both side not seen to relent with no one is ready to blink first.  The military might of US is such that the China cannot hope to match leave alone defeat in the next decade or two, if there is a war between these economic super powers.