A song of Democracy and Authoritarianism - The Red Dragon

          If you are able to read this right now without fearing for your safety, then you are probably part of the half of the world that lives in a democratic state. Since the fall of the iron curtain, there has been a sharp increase in the number of countries that can call themselves democratic, but as of late, there has been a warring trend of a reverse back to authoritarianism. The failed uprising in Syria, the erosion of democracy in Turkey, accelerated ever since the coup attempt in 2016, the power grab of Venezuela’s current president Nicolas Maduro are just the most obvious and recent examples. The rise in extreme right-wing sentiments across the EU can also be seen as part of this trend, this being a response to a change for the worse in international politics as well as instability in neighboring regions, which have directly affected Europe (see the migrant crisis). Even though the signs were visible for a long time now, Europe and the US have been very slow to react, with some EU nations horribly mismanaging this situation.

          In this moment of weakness on the part of the European democracies, the two most prominent dictatorships, namely Russia and China, have been increasingly active on the international stage in their efforts to undermine democracy in North America and Europe. We are all familiar with the accusations that Russia has been meddling in other nation’s elections (such as US and France’s presidential elections as well as the Brexit vote). This subject is a rather sensitive one at the moment as there is a very heated discussion on whether these accusations are true or not, but one thing is certain, if Putin has the possibility of influencing a foreign election, by any means, in order to better his own position, then he will definitely do so. As of late, the Russian economic and political situation has been rather precarious, so it is not unreasonable to think that Russia is not currently capable of doing any of that with a huge degree of success, even though it definitely came on top in Syria. Russia may be just a shadow of the former USSR, desperately trying to hang on to that former “glory” by flexing whatever muscles it still has, sending out troops and making threats (such as with the unveiling of their new ballistic missiles). But there is a far larger power that has been growing at a staggering pace since the late 70’ to this day and that definitely poses a great threat to democracies across the globe and especially for those that it neighbors, China.

          China has experienced an incredible economic boom in the last few decades, with its economy growing with an average of 9.5% to 11.5% every year since 1978. Naturally with all this wealth came power as the communist party has been spending a vast amount of money on developing civilian and military infrastructure, upgrading their armed forces and influencing other countries by all possible means. China is now not only a strong regional player, but a global production powerhouse. Usually, such a course of events is a reason to rejoice, but in the case of China, the world should watch this progress with a certain wariness. It is important to keep in mind that China is a dictatorship, ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its primary goal is to keep total control over the country. Even the army is directly subordinated to the CCP, with soldiers swearing oaths not to the country or the people, but to the party. Recently the goals of the CCP have been extended to not only keeping itself in power in China, but also to increasing China’s power and influence across the globe, as has been pointed out by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in his speech at the 19th National Congress of the CCP, calling the recent changes a “new era” for China. The recent events in the South China Sea and the One Belt One Road initiative can only further support this claim.

          The meteoric rise of China is a legitimate reason to worry as its policies now reach far beyond its own borders. People in countries that are being targeted by Chinese influence should keep in mind that the CCP, in its efforts to achieve its goals, will not give a second thought to the cost that has to be paid by civilians, be they the Chinese people or any other nationality or ethnicity. It is enough to look at Chinese policy in the Xinjiang province targeting the native Uygur population, the occupation of Tibet, the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the persecution of Falun Gong followers and the forced organ harvesting of political dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners, to conclude that the CCP doesn’t have any respect for even the most basic of human rights.

          This lack of respect for the human nature and condition can also be seen if we look at the regimes that China supports, such as Venezuela, Iran (both nations with severe human rights violations) and, most notably, North Korea, ruled by a regime infamous for their treatment of its own people and the existential threat it poses for those that it considers its enemies, constantly threatening them with nuclear war.

          The Chinese army has been undergoing a rapid upscale in recent years, with an emphasis being put on technology. This change in the Chinese military and China’s growing ambitions have been proven in the recent and ongoing South China Sea dispute, where China is claiming a vast swathe of water, violating the claims of many of its neighbors, building islands in contested waters and placing military installations on them.

          The most ambitious project of the Chinese when it comes to international influence and global power projections is the One Belt One Road initiative, an extensive program of Chinese investment in foreign countries, with the goal to develop infrastructure to make certain markets more easily available to Chinese companies and to gain influence in the countries that they are investing in to try and further their interests and achieve their ever growing ambitions.

          The inconspicuous victims of this initiative are lured in with promises of infrastructure investments that are in fact unsustainable, that will bury these nations in debt to the Chinese government and that will primarily serve the interests and economic activity of Chinese companies. The amount of capital that will be invested, and by extension, the amount of debt nations will owe to China, is incredible, with 60 countries expecting a $900 billion USD yearly investment for the next 10 years. In the face of such wealth many governments have closed their eyes to the long term consequences.

          This is something we should all be worried about and that we should keep a close eye on, if not for fear of exploitation or economic ruin, then for fear of our rights, freedoms and western democratic values. Because, in the end, if those in power doing business with the CCP should decide that democracy is not the way to go, China has their backs.