The US efforts to strip China of its "developing country" status is an attempt by Washington to shore up its interests and maintain its global leadership in the face of Beijing becoming a real competitor in the international arena, Francois Asselineau, a French geopolitical analyst and politician, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2023) The US efforts to strip China of its "developing country" status is an attempt by Washington to shore up its interests and maintain its global leadership in the face of Beijing becoming a real competitor in the international arena, Francois Asselineau, a French geopolitical analyst and politician, told Sputnik.
Earlier this week, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed the PRC (People's Republic of China) Is Not a Developing Country Act. The legislation aims to direct the US Secretary of State to oppose labeling or treating China as a "developing country" in any international organization or agreement to which Washington is a party.
"As long as the status of a developed country enabled the Western 'democracies' to have the upper hand in international organizations, it was fine, and trade with China could flourish. But now that the US considers China a competitor in world markets, they want to change the rules, urgently. America wants to maximize its interest and tries to change the rules to keep 'America First,'" Asselineau said.
According to the expert, by passing this bill the US recognizes China as the world's second economy and implies that Beijing should probably contribute more to the budget of UN organizations with which it is involved. At the same time, Asselineau thinks that while China should probably be considered a developed country, the current development indicates a rapid deterioration of relations between the two countries.
"The US is annoyed by the diplomatic success of China, bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran together or pushing for the 'de-dollarisation' of world trade. The rhythm of crises launched by the US, rightly or wrongly, is increasing. There was the hot air meteorological balloon accused of being a 'spy balloon' by the US, there was the banning of TikTok after the banning of the phone company Huawei, both accused of espionage for Beijing," Asselineau explained.
The analyst noted Washington's policies could very well be viewed as a defense of Western privilege and distortion of economic competition, which will not help the US in the developing world. This takes place against the backdrop of the worsening relations between China and the US over Taiwan. The expert pointed to the visit of the former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to Taipei last year as well as the recent visit of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to the US.
"I don't understand the US. (Chinese President) Xi Jinping visited Moscow, so the US should develop a diplomatic charm offensive with Beijing, at least temporarily, to put a wedge between Moscow and Beijing. That is what would be expected. To the contrary, the US barks at China," Asselineau concluded.
In recent years, the United States has been actively accusing China of misusing the "developing country" designation in relation to itself, as this allows the Asian country to gain certain advantages under global trade rules despite already being sufficiently advanced economically, as claimed by critics. Beijing, for its part, rejects such accusations.
