‘If your neighbor’s house is on fire, you should help them. In Jan/Feb, the US gleefully watched China burn and bragged about American exceptionalism. That’s when the US and the EU should have given generous aid to China to contain the pandemic. Then, from April on, western societies refused to learn anything from China. Filled with hubris and undeserved overconfidence, the West kept fumbling for months. Incompetent governments and irrational public couldn’t agree upon simple things like wearing masks or even if COVID-19 is real.
‘As the West imploded, China soared to the skies.
‘To put it succinctly, China had a stellar year. And with Trump’s loss, the U.S. is more polarized than ever before. By the time Biden’s administration gets its geopolitical strategy together, everyone from Asia to Europe would see the writing on the wall — that China will inevitably be the #1 economy soon. 2020 started out as a terrifying year, but ended up as the most pivotal year that sealed China’s unique status in the 21st century.’
Read here (World Affairs, Dec 31, 2020)
