Mahbubani seems to delight in surprising his readers with unexpected comparisons. It was only then that China responded with militarisation of the South China Sea. The story goes that US President Barack Obama would have rebuffed a “more reasonable approach on the South China Sea” by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and that the US Navy then stepped-up patrols in the area. In countering this argument, Mahbubani cites Stapleton Roy, a one-time US ambassador to China. Mahbubani picked up this insight through his discussions with none other than Henry Kissinger.Ĭhina’s militarisation of the South China Sea is widely seen as evidence of a China that reneges on its promises and of an “expansionist China,” and it has undermined Western trust in China. Mahbubani argues that America made an even greater strategic mistake, which was to launch its geopolitical contest with China without having a comprehensive long-term strategy on how to deal with a country like China, something which will be hopefully rectified by the Biden administration. So unlike in the past, the American business community did not come to the support of China when Donald Trump was launching his trade war. First, China made a grave strategic mistake when it alienated America’s business community, partly through forced intellectual property transfers and theft, cyber intrusions, and failure to abide by agreements – as well as official arrogance after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, which it interpreted as a strategic opportunity for China. The strategic rivalry between China, the rising power, and the US, the status quo power, has been triggered by mistakes, misconceptions, and misunderstandings on both sides, according to Mahbubani. Mahbubani’s paradoxical conclusion is that “a major geopolitical contest between America and China is both inevitable and avoidable.” He fears a great and unnecessary tragedy coming from the geopolitical contest between America and China, a contest which has only been aggravated by COVID-19.
And his latest book, Has Chi na Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy, certainly does not disappoint, even though it does not squarely answer the title’s question. Singapore’s renowned polemicist, Kishore Mahbubani, regularly provides readers with provocative insights and fascinating food for thought. Namely, that it should maintain spiritual vitality at home, cultivate friends all over the world, not insult its adversary, and be humble.
Kishore Mahbubani argues the US has launched a contest with China, while ignoring the advice that geopolitical sage George Kennan gave America during the Cold War.
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