Imperialism in the Times of Pandemic
Anand
The extraordinary situation like a pandemic calls for increasing cooperation among the different countries for mitigation, control and vaccine development. However, it is a tragic irony of the global capitalism that the pandemic itself has become yet another opportunity of profit extraction at the cost of human suffering on the one hand and increasing blame-game, racism, xenophobia and intense rivalry among the imperialist blocks on the other. The Pandemic has given the opportunity for the big pharmaceutical corporations to carry out what ‘The People’s Vaccine Alliance’ has aptly termed ‘a great vaccine robbery’. These giant corporations have monopolised the Covid 19 vaccines which were funded largely by people. The excessive prices charged by these corporations have become a formidable obstacle in the path of full vaccination. The corporations like Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have allocated more than 90 per cent of their supplies to rich countries who have blocked the faster and cheaper access to global vaccination. No wonder in most of the low-income countries, less than 1 percent people have got vaccinated so far and in many such countries full vaccination could take place only by 2023. Since the start of the pandemic, Moderna, BioNTech and CanSino have created at least nine new vaccine billionaires with a combined net wealth of $19.3 billion, which demonstrates even when the capitalist system is in crisis, a handful of big capitalists mint money. The same happened during the corona crisis, which aggravated the economic crisis of capitalism.
The steep rise in the wealth amassed by a handful of Transnational corporations and billionaires and increasing suffering of the toiling masses throughout the world during the coronavirus pandemic is only a reflection of the increasing parasitic character of imperialism in the stage of neoliberal globalisation. As per the Forbes magazine, the ten super-rich people have accumulated approximately 450 billion US dollar last year ever since the pandemic broke out. Over the same period the collective wealth of America’s 651 billionaires rose by 1.1 trillion US Dollar. However, it must be noted that this rise in the wealth of corporate and billionaires is not across the board; rather it is confined to those related to e-commerce, e-retail, banking and financial sector, education tech, medical and IT sector. The sectors like manufacturing, construction, aviation, hotel, hospitality and real estate have been badly hit during the pandemic. Overall, the economies of the most of the countries of the world went into tailspin and they continue to face the rough weather which has a direct correlation with the deteriorating condition of the toiling masses all over the world. However, it would be wrong to attribute all the blame to the pandemic for the crisis the imperialist system. The truth is that the crisis had preceded the pandemic and the latter has only contributed in intensifying the former.
Apart from mind-boggling increase in the wealth of a few Trans-national corporations and billionaires across many sectors, the increasing rivalry between US and China has dominated the news in much of the pandemic era. ‘Trade War’ and ‘Tech War’ between US and China were the main highlights of US foreign policy during Trump’s tenure. Besides, the ‘New Cold War’ became the buzzword in the western bourgeois media and at the peak of the pandemic. In fact, the hawkish section of imperialist US even flirted with the idea of hot pursuit.
When the pandemic broke out early last year, Trump left no stone unturned to squarely blame China for the global spread of coronavirus. He went so far as to term the coronavirus as ‘China virus.’ Even before the pandemic, the trade and tariff war between US and China had dominated much of Trump’s tenure as president. At the peak of the pandemic the tech-war between US and China intensified as US went on to ban the Chinese giants such as ZTE , Huwaei, TikTok and WeChat. Even on military front the Trump administration tried to fish in the troubled water of South China Sea on more than one occasion and at times it did appear that a military conflict is round the corner. All this makes it amply clear that era of inter-imperialist rivalry is far from over.
Many liberal and left-liberal analysts had hoped that with the departure of Trump and entry of Joe Biden into White house, some sanity would return and a new era of world peace would ensue. However, these hopes were belied in no time as Biden not just continued the anti-China rhetoric but elevated it to a new level. Biden is known to be a liberal hawk. As a senator he was a strong defender of “war on drugs” in Latin America and US’s “war on terror” in the Middle-East. No wonder he has staffed the key positions in his administration with the hawkish elements. His warning to Russia brings out his real character as he said, “I made it clear to President Putin I am very different from my predecessor, and the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions – interfering with our elections, cyber-attacks, poisoning its citizens – are over. We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia, and defend the vital interests of our people.” Immediately after assuming office, the Biden administration made its priorities clear by terming the growing rivalry with China as a key challenge facing the US and China as “the biggest geopolitical test” of the century.
Sharpening of Inter-Imperialist Rivalry
Evidently, we are witnessing the sharpening of inter-imperialist rivalry and conflict between the US-UK Axis on the one hand and the China-Russia Axis on the other. In case of Afghanistan, this rivalry has come out in the open after the US pull out and the Taliban take over. US’s troop withdrawal from Afghanistan was largely necessitated by the fact that the cost of the two decades of Afghan war was not increasing any prospect of any strategic benefit as Taliban were strengthening their positions with every passing day. In the period of an economic crisis, this investment was becoming even more burdensome. After the Taliban’s take over, China’s influence in the region is bound to increase manifold. Taliban has already declared that China is its foremost partner which will help in the mineral extraction and economic development of Afghanistan. It is to be noted that Afghanistan is estimated to have 3 trillion-dollar worth mineral deposits including iron, copper, gold, and rare earth minerals such as lithium. Besides, China is also planning to include Afghanistan into its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.
US-China Tech War
After withdrawing from Afghanistan, the US imperialism is focusing its attention to counter the rise of China as a rapidly emerging imperialist power. The technology war between US and China is one of the new fronts in the imperialism of 21st century. The Chinese corporations are challenging the decades-long of US hegemony in the Research and Development related to cutting edge technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, cyber security, semiconductor and green technology. China has prepared a 10-year blueprint for transforming the country from a “manufacturing giant into a world manufacturing power”. China’s technological and scientific advances are the direct outcome of the huge investment in higher education. China has already begun to surpass the US in terms of number of scientific articles published and patent application being filed.
US claims that that China is using unfair means such as state power and IP theft, to achieve its goal of becoming a global leader in core technologies like AI, semiconductors and 5G. It is because of this reason that US has started the process of decoupling to lessen the US reliance on Chinese-based supply chains. After assuming the office, the US President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling for a review of critical product supply chains for chips, batteries, pharmaceutical ingredients, and rare-earth minerals. In March, Biden administration put further restrictions on what US companies could sell to Huawei, with more explicit prohibitions on the export of components like semiconductors, antennas and batteries that can be used in Huawei 5G devices. Earlier Huawei was blocked from buying US chips and Shanghai-based foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) was restricted from buying US technology for alleged links to the Chinese military. After the sanctions, Huawei has slipped from its number one slot as a mobile phone supplier to number seven.
The US-China rivalry in the semiconductors has affected the global supply chains of electronic chips leading to chip shortages. The semiconductor industry is both capital-intensive as well as R&D intensive. China is now focusing on achieving self-sufficiency in the field of semiconductor as well. Analysis Mason, a leading consulting company has estimated that China will attain self-sufficiency in semiconductors in 3-4 years. China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), which was unveiled in March this year, called for nurturing new digital industries, including Artificial Intelligence, big data, blockchain and cloud computing, along with expanding the use of 5G to more industries such as smart transport and logistics. China is home to world’s biggest internet user population and largest smart phone market. The new growth in the information technology industry is likely to enable digitalization across traditional industries.
In the US, Biden administration has unveiled a US$2 trillion plan to improve US infrastructure which includes an estimated US$50 billion to help the country become less reliant on chips made overseas. US is also trying to convince the European Union countries to isolate Chinese companies by curtailing China’s 5G ambition. However, many of the EU countries, including Germany and France are having a strong trade and commercial tie with China.
Tussle in the South China Sea Continues
Yet another front of the US-China rivalry could be observed in the ongoing tussle regarding the control over the South China Sea which is the main navigation and commercial gateway to East Asia as almost one-third of shipping trade passes through it annually. It is the control over the shipping routes and the fisheries and hydrocarbon resources which causes the conflict between China and other littoral countries of South China Sea like Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei with US backing the latter set of countries. China claims almost entire South China Sea as its territory despite the fact that an international court has rejected China’s claim a few years ago. In March this year, China sent a massive fishing fleet in which Chinese navy masqueraded as fisher-folks. China has installed its military equipment in many of the islands of the South China Sea. China has enacted new maritime rules according to which foreign vessels, both military and commercial, will be henceforth required to submit to Chinese supervision in “Chinese territorial waters”. The rule also mandates that the vessels that “endanger the maritime traffic safety of China” will be required to report their name, call sign, current position and next port of call and estimated time of arrival. The name of ship-borne dangerous goods and cargo deadweight will also be required. Such a rule is bound to create a possibility of conflict in the region as the US routinely holds naval exercises in the region.
In order to counter the Chinese ambition in the Indo-Pacific region, the US has also revived the Indo-Pacific grouping called QUAD in recent years which includes Japan, Australia and India. Under Biden administration a summit of these countries took place and secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a visit to these countries to consolidate this grouping aimed at encircling China. At the time of writing this article Indian PM Modi is planning to attend a QUAD summit in US. China has already expressed its displeasure at this encircling exercise by terming QUAD as a “clique.”
The US has also kick-started a new strategic defense alliance called AUKUS with UK and Australia. As part of this new alliance, the US and UK will help Australia to build nuclear-propelled submarines. The three countries have agreed to work together in the Indo-Pacific region with a clear-cut aim to encircle China. China has responded to this new development in a threatening manner. The state-run Global Times wrote: “Australian troops are also most likely to be the first batch of western soldiers to waste their lives in the South China Sea.” Clearly this region is most-probably going to be a flash-point in future.
Information War
Yet another strategy the US imperialism is adopting to resist the rise of China is to discredit it by launching an information war against it. From 2019 onwards the US has been repeatedly asserting that there is a genocide and ethnic cleansing of Uyghur Muslims going on in the Xinjiang province of China. On 22 March this year the US, Canada, UK and EU imposed sanctions against Wang Junzheng, the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), and Chen Mingguo, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB). Earlier, the US government had also banned Xinjiang cotton which constitutes 87 percent of cotton output in China, on the charges that coercive labour is being used in the cotton farming in this region. China of course denied these allegations and condemned the US actions. These allegations might contain a grain of truth, but the US has suddenly become so proactive on these issues due to its own ulterior motives.
Conclusion
Thus, we are witnessing the sharpening of the inter-imperialist rivalry between the two imperialist axes, viz. US-UK axis and China-Russia axis. Some countries like Germany and Turkey have not openly chosen to ally with one of these blocks. France has also openly expressed its anger after the formation of AUKUS as it will mark the end of the contract given by Australia to France to build 12 diesel electric-powered submarine.
The US-NATO pull out from Afghanistan is bringing out fundamental shift in the region as Chinese influence is increasing. However, the US is also making new plans to resist the growth of China and arrest its own decline. The US president Joe Biden has been saying to focus more on Syria and Africa. Clearly it is to counter the growing influence of Russia and China in two important regions. Even in the Latin America, the US is continuing to orchestrate coups and support the reactionary and right-wing elements so as to maintain its dominance. Hence, imperialism continues to wreak havoc in different parts of the world. Only an organized resistance with a clear vision of a socialist future could take humanity towards peace, stability and all-round prosperity.
References
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-biden-idUSKBN2A42QZ
https://worldfinancialreview.com/afghanistan-the-american-imperial-project/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-blinken-idUSKBN2AV28C
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2021-07-06/missing-chips
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-blinken-idUSKBN2AV28C
On the 104th Anniversary of The Great October Revolution
“This first victory is not yet the final victory, and it was achieved by our October Revolution at the price of incredible difficulties and hardships, at the price of unprecedented suffering, accompanied by a series of serious reverses and mistakes on our part. How could a single backward people be expected to frustrate the imperialist wars of the most powerful and most developed countries of the world without sustaining reverses and without committing mistakes! We are not afraid to admit our mistakes and shall examine them dispassionately in order to learn how to correct them. But the fact remains that for the first time in hundreds and thousands of years the promise “to reply” to war 
between the slave-owners by a revolution of the slaves directed against all the slave-owners has been completely fulfilled—and is being fulfilled despite all difficulties.
We have made the start. When, at what date and time, and the proletarians of which nation will complete this process is not important. The important thing is that the ice has been broken; the road is open, the way has been shown.”
— V. I. Lenin
(Fourth Anniversary of the October Revolution)
