The Pandemic...Prepares the Stage for China?

Retrieved from The Economist Magazine Cover of the issue Apr 16th 2020

China was the first one battered with the crisis but it managed to recover with strong measures to contain the spread of the virus. Now, the rest of the world is being directly affected by the virus, and many of them are failing to contain it.

The United States under Trump does not want China to surpass them as a new world economic power. Yet, as Trump retreats from funding international organizations, he gives China the world in a silver platter. China has now the chance to turn into the world's benefactor, or leading power. All Trump has done, although wanting otherwise, is propel China to take down and settle American world dominance that dates back to the end of World Wars.

Trump, watching how he losses the grip, desperately wants to blame China for the virus, taking the spotlight to poor if any evidence that the virus escaped from a pathogen lab near Wuhan

Unintentionally, China has some kind of geopolitical advantage. The ravaging virus is weakening Europe, and Chinese firms may seize the opportunity to take higher stakes in European companies.

The political outcome for Europe is uncertain. The last crisis 2008, and the migrant crisis prompted the rise of the far right, constantly threatening Europe's integrity. Some have argued that the European Commission came to late in the aid of Italy at the beginning of the spread. Germany will mostly stay whole after the pandemic, but the rest of Europe will leave shattered. The outcome could be a more shattered Europe, or if the European agenda can do so, unite more the European Union. The European Union should release the "corona-bonds", to help the its most vulnerable countries economically and socially after and during the crisis.

Another issue that may arise in the papers in the coming weeks or months is Britain. If London doesn't settle the remaining trade agreements before the real Brexit, they would be even more doomed in a world recession. It would have been preferable to withstand this crisis inside the European Union than out.