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Red Sea or Cross-Strait: World peace now depends on China
Given the chaos that the US and European Union have created in the world over the last 30 years, which has led to simmering confusion in the Red Sea and Cross-Strait areas, it is rather ironic that the peaceful country is indeed China.
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Taiwan's President-elect Lai Ching-te (left) waves on Jan. 13, 2024, beside his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim during a rally outside the headquarters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei, after winning the presidential election. Taiwan's ruling party candidate Lai Ching-te, branded a threat to peace by China, on Jan. 13 won the island's presidential election in a vote watched closely from Beijing to Washington. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
W
ithin a span of less than a week, the world has begun to grasp the importance of China. However, this understanding has been framed in terms of deterring China from making any more "aggressive" moves.
What is often forgotten is that when the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it was former president Saddam Hussein who invaded Kuwait in August 1990. Former United States president George H.W. Bush gathered more than 40 countries to form a massive coalition to repel Iraq, and therefore liberate Kuwait through "Operation Desert Storm" in February 1991.
While the victory proved swift and decisive, the US soon became enamored with its own military power. Celebrating its ability to "bomb Iraq into the stone age”, as some commentators like Charles Krauthammer of TIME Magazine openly gloated, did not help matters one bit.
Powers were meant to be used responsibly, especially when the US was enjoying the "unipolar moment”, where it alone was a top dog.
Yet in just two days, between Jan. 12 and 14, two events have chastened the US and will encourage it to be more cautious than ever. One would hope for the good.
By working in tandem with the United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain and the Netherlands, the US unleashed a ferocious attack on Sanaa, the Yemeni capital which is controlled by the Houthis. The US still plans to keep up its attack on the rebel faction in Yemen that has all but controlled 80 percent of the country since 2015.
France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all urged the US and its international coalition of 10 countries not to take any aggressive action against the Houthis.
