I can’t disagree with anything you’ve said, but I still feel that China might choose the route that alienates the least G7/ EU member states.
Even if some users here feel it’s foolish for China to expect US “allies” to hold their own interests above Washington’s, China might not burn trade deals that could jeopardize relationships with Europe. China is still working on expanding trade with the EU at the same time it’s working with Russia and Iran.
China’s interests don’t 100% line up with its allies’ interests. The US on the other hand expects its enemies to be the enemies of their allies as well, but China knows that doesn’t need to be the case.
It could be that China tries to turn the trade war against the US by playing both sides, while the US will undoubtedly escalate. If it turns out to be the case, then this could further alienate Washington from their EU allies.
This paves the way for more Chinese trade and more expansion of the BRI into Europe, while simultaneously reducing Washington’s influence on trade in the region.
Tldr: China taking the nuclear stop trade with us option is a possibility, but they might just play the long game so they can end up on everybody’s (except US) good side 10-20 years down the line.
I don’t expect that China would burn trade deals with countries unless they have to either. However, I do think it’s realistic for China to say that they wish further payments to happen in yuan the way Russia did with roubles after being frozen out of SWIFT. Europeans might grumble a bit about it, but when push comes to shove they have no choice but to go along with that.
The main problem for China is that if it continues to be reliant on SWIFT then it’s exposed to financial warfare by the west. Hence, why I think China will want to avoid doing trade using western financial system as much as possible going forward.
So, I agree with you that China will likely be very surgical regarding what trade it cuts with the west entirely, I do expect it to nudge the countries it trades with to start increasing trading outside the dollar going forward.
I can’t disagree with anything you’ve said, but I still feel that China might choose the route that alienates the least G7/ EU member states.
Even if some users here feel it’s foolish for China to expect US “allies” to hold their own interests above Washington’s, China might not burn trade deals that could jeopardize relationships with Europe. China is still working on expanding trade with the EU at the same time it’s working with Russia and Iran.
China’s interests don’t 100% line up with its allies’ interests. The US on the other hand expects its enemies to be the enemies of their allies as well, but China knows that doesn’t need to be the case.
It could be that China tries to turn the trade war against the US by playing both sides, while the US will undoubtedly escalate. If it turns out to be the case, then this could further alienate Washington from their EU allies.
This paves the way for more Chinese trade and more expansion of the BRI into Europe, while simultaneously reducing Washington’s influence on trade in the region.
Tldr: China taking the nuclear stop trade with us option is a possibility, but they might just play the long game so they can end up on everybody’s (except US) good side 10-20 years down the line.
I don’t expect that China would burn trade deals with countries unless they have to either. However, I do think it’s realistic for China to say that they wish further payments to happen in yuan the way Russia did with roubles after being frozen out of SWIFT. Europeans might grumble a bit about it, but when push comes to shove they have no choice but to go along with that.
The main problem for China is that if it continues to be reliant on SWIFT then it’s exposed to financial warfare by the west. Hence, why I think China will want to avoid doing trade using western financial system as much as possible going forward.
So, I agree with you that China will likely be very surgical regarding what trade it cuts with the west entirely, I do expect it to nudge the countries it trades with to start increasing trading outside the dollar going forward.
exports only makes up 20% of China’s GDP