By Emanuel Pastreich
Fear No Evil
December 19, 2025
As a long-time observer of China, who has been deeply inspired by the best of the Chinese tradition of moral philosophy, I feel compelled to make a statement about the current competition between the United States and China, both real and imagined, and to call on those who either pigeonhole China as an implacable foe, or who describe it as a miraculous alternative to the United States, and by extension, the "West" (like Jeffery Sachs) to start speaking truth.
China has a long tradition of peaceful coexistance and offers an alternative to the imperialist tradition of extraction and military domination. There is, however, no reason to assume that China in the future will embrace that tradition. There is plenty of evidence that the concentration of wealth in China has produced an elite class who are just as obsessed with global domination, in their own way, as the elites in the United States, and that what we are witnessing is something closer to the merging of elite interests similar to the re-absorption of the United States into the British Empire at the beginning of the 20th century.
That statement makes no sense to many because of the current insane hostility to China shown in the United States government and media. That hostility is real, it is wrong-headed and disingenius, and it poses serious risks. But we must recognize that covert financial integration between the United States and China, and digital integration, is also taking place-which is off the record for most citizens.
I am sure you would love to know how the same IT giants like Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Meta, and Google (Alphabet) are working with Chinese interests while opposing China in the press (section redacted for reasons of national security)
The United States in the first half the 20th century offered a seeming alternative to the British Empire, and at times, it really was a legitimate alternative. But the global economy was much more complex than most citizens were led to believe, and the crown of the British empire was more attractive to American bankers like J.P. Morgan than the Constitution and freedom.
Is China heading towards a peaceful economic system that offers a distinct alternative to the United States ? Obviously, China is doing much better than the collapsing United States, although the concentration in wealth is taking place in China also, in a catastrophic sense, and in a manner that largely hidden from us. I would be happy to do research on that topic, if I have funding.
If China has a massive overproduction problem, if it has set up an economy driven by exports that produces more of just about everything than the world wants, and in the case of solar panels, threatens the local production of renewable energy that would keep wealth at home for other nations and avoid the drain of funds to the Chinese elite, we can expect there will be a backlash around the world, and that backlash would be normal.
The dangerous strategy of Trump meant to use legitimate concerns about free trade as a hammer to destroy all that is left of the local economy at home, does not mean there is no problem with trade.
It was not the average Chinese who wanted this situation. It is the brainchild of elite finance geniuses in Shanghai and New York who are able to meet each other any time, when we ordinary hoi polli are told we should stay away from our Chinese peers.
Overproduction, when it is made the core of the economy, is a sure way towards war. Production of weapons, whether overt weapons like tanks and planes, or covert monitoring and social control systems (which China is fighting with Israel, and now even Iran, Germany, Turkey and others to get into markets for this undeclared war against the people of the earth), is critical for China, and will be even more critical, as overproduction at home runs up against diminishing trade opportunities overseas.
The militarization of the Chinese economy so as to provide demand for industries heavily invested in production for export will be the best and easily implemented form of socialism, but this will be a socialism for the super-rich.
That structural problem can easily, easily, override Chinese ideas about peace and cooperation. Remember how American alternatives to British Empire, including the League of Nations, were quickly tossed in the dustbin of history when they got in the way of Wall Street's dreams over taking down the City of London?
The idea of an egalitarian society has virtually vanished from the discourse in the Chinese mainstream and the purchase of stocks, the profits of corporations, and the privatization of public services are praised as the new normal in the Chinese media in a manner that must have Zhou Enlai turning over in his grave. Things that are radical finance capitalism are labeled as "communism" on a regular basis.
The issue of debt is also a critical part of this process. Although China might be in better shape than the United States which a "post-nation state" entity now in the final throes of an idiotcracy that is about to be replaced by a covert alliance of the military and private equity, or perhaps even warlordism, Chinese banking is nothing to be proud of. The possibility that war, or the preparation for war, might allow Chinese banks to write off their bad loans and be reborn again, is just too tempting for the banker class anywhere.
There was a time when Chinese intellectuals attacked imperialism, and stayed away from criticism of nation states. Ideological attacks on nation states are the classic road to war, and I hope our Chinese associates can avoid that mistake.
"Chinese Dream: Western Imitation or Radical Alternative?"
2016
Foreign Policy in Focus
"Is China the Nemesis in a New Cold War?"
2006
Nautilus Institute
This article was originally published on Fear No Evil.