Growing co-operation between China, Russia, Iran, and even North Korea continues to demonstrate that we are in Cold War 2.0
As the West becomes more and more polarized internally, many people are filtering all world events through the lens of domestic politics.
This leads to some odd things.
For example, many on the right are concerned about the danger posed by China in part because they identify China with their political opponents. Meanwhile, many on the left identify China with their political allies (like Justin Trudeau), and thus refuse to take the danger of the Communist State seriously.
Likewise, many on the left are concerned about the danger posed by Russia in part because they identify Russia with their political opponents. Meanwhile, many on the right identify Russia with their political allies, and thus refuse to take the danger of Russia seriously.
The point here is that by filtering everything through the domestic political lens, we miss the fact that China and Russia have a shared goal of destableizing and weakening the Western world to make the world ‘safe’ for anti-democratic authoritarian dictatorships.
Russia wants to dominate Eastern Europe like they did during the Cold War.
China wants to take Taiwan, weaken democratic governments in the West (as we are seeing in Canada), and dominate Asia.
Russia and China benefit by keeping the Western world divided and unable to see how they are working together.
If the right becomes pro-Russia while remaining anti-China, while the left becomes more pro-China while remaining anti-Russia, then forming coherent policy in our national interest will become much more difficult.
It is essential for both the right and the left to see that China and Russia both pose a threat to the Western world.
And in a sign of how co-operation between Communist China and Russia is deepening, a report from German newspaper Der Spiegel indicates the two authoritarian states are negotiating on the sale of Chinese drones to assist Russia’s war against Ukraine:
“According to that information, the Russian military is engaged in negotiations with Chinese drone manufacturer Xi’an Bingo Intelligent Aviation Technology over the mass production of kamikaze drones for Russia. The revelations create a new urgency in the debate over possible Chinese military support for Russia.
Bingo has reportedly agreed to manufacture and test 100 ZT-180 prototype drones before delivering them to the Russian Defense Ministry by April 2023. Military experts believe the ZT-180 is capable of carrying a 35- to 50 kilogram warhead.
Sources believe that the design of the unmanned aerial vehicle could be similar to that of Iran’s Shaheed 136 kamikaze drone. The Russian army has deployed hundreds of them in its attacks on Ukraine, where they used the Iranian drones to target residential buildings, power plants and district heating facilities, often resulting in civilian casualties.”
This would further deepen the divide between United States and China, and would also push Europe to take further steps to distance themselves from China.
The fact that China appears willing to risk significant economic blowback in Europe in order to help Putin’s war against Ukraine further demonstrates how Russia and China are forming an authoritarian axis.
The West must understand that we are now facing a new cold war.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
