U.S.-CHINA FACEOFF: EUROPE TAKING SIDES

As we have been reporting, such as in our 30 March article, “BIDEN VS. CHINA’S BELT & ROAD INITIATIVE: U.S. LOSES,” as China expands its global presence, the U.S. is taking measures in its attempt to maintain its lead as the world’s most powerful nation. 
Our article pointed out that Beijing is moving ahead full force, both militarily and economically, and despite the “get tough” U.S. rhetoric, Washington recognizes the reality of Chinese power. 
Last month, President Biden spoke with Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson to pitch a western ally plan to challenge China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” that was launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013. 
Biden told Johnson that under his watch, Beijing would not surpass Washington in power during his term in the White House, and he was willing to invest heavily to follow through on the promise. Biden said,
“China has an overall goal… to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world. That’s not going to happen on my watch because the United States is going to continue to grow.”
Money Talks, B.S. Walks
While the U.S. talks about challenging China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that China is investing in “Europe’s gritty industrial backwaters” to bring them back to economic life. 
As we have reported, last year, China overtook the U.S. as the bloc’s top trading partner. The European Union imported 5.6 percent more goods from China in 2020 than in 2019 and boosted exports to China by 2.2 percent according to Eurostat.
The WSJ noted that trade between the EU and China is becoming easier due to infrastructure provided by the Belt and Road Initiative, which helped spark growth in once-forgotten cities like Liege in Belgium. Liege was once a major steel hub until it was undercut by cheaper prices by the same country that is now investing in it.
The Journal reported the number of freight trains linking China and Europe increased by 50 percent in 2020 when compared to the previous year. The report said China owns about 12 shipping terminals in major European cities like Antwerp and Rotterdam, and airfreight volume is also up 50 percent.
While politicians continue to make statements chastising China’s human rights policies, abuses, and regional aggression, the bottom line is money, and the EU has climbed on board China’s Belt and Road express. 
“In gray, unglamorous areas like infrastructure and supply chains, there’s a lot less media and political attention, and more understanding that economic integration is necessary,” Bruno Macães, the former Portuguese minister who has written a book on the initiative, told the Journal.
TOP TRENDS 2021: “THE RISE OF CHINA”: As we have forecast, the 20th century was the American century – the 21st century will be the Chinese century. The business of China is business; the business of America is war. 
While America spent countless trillions waging and losing endless wars and enriching its military-industrial complex, China has spent its trillions advancing the nation’s businesses and building its 21st-century infrastructure. 
As we noted above, China is investing in rust belt cities in Europe. In the meantime, it was announced last week that the U.S. is sending more of its troops to Germany, reversing the pullback that was being instituted by former President Trump.
Sell Outs
While America and Europe have outsourced their manufacturing to China and developing nations to increase profit margins, China’s dual circulation/self-sustaining economic model is directed toward keeping jobs and trade and profits within the nation, thus relying less on global trade. 
While Western nations lock, unlock, and re-lock down their economies, China, where the virus first broke out, has been completely reopened shortly after the virus left its homeland last year. Beijing’s economy saw its biggest known gain in GDP in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter the previous year with an 18.3-percent increase.