By Nirmal P. Acharya

Pakistan and India are in a clash. India dispatched four Rafale fighter jets bought from France to confront Pakistani Air Force fighter jets at the border of India. The result of the confrontation was that the Rafale fighter jets fled the scene.

Moreover, the Indian military also dismissed the Air Force’s Vice Chief, Air Marshal SP Dharakar General, blaming him for improper command. The General had only been in office for seven months and became the shortest-serving Vice Commander in the history of the Indian Air Force.

The fact that the deputy commander of the Indian Air Force was removed from his position can confirm that India lost in this air confrontation. The advanced military weapons of China have once again demonstrated their superiority in this confrontation.

In the context where the US is favoring India, the F-16 fighter jets purchased by Pakistan from the US cannot be used. Pakistan is increasingly relying on Chinese weapons. Therefore, the Chinese equipment of Pakistan has become more eye-catching. The whole world is watching and observing the air confrontation between India and Pakistan. The US and Russia are observing; Europe, especially France, cannot be ignored; Middle Eastern countries and other third-world countries are also observing.

What are they observing? They are observing whether the Chinese J-10C fighter jets and the Xiaolong fighter jets mentioned in the rumors are effective and have high practicality. And whether China, which is said to be able to confront the US in all aspects, has the weight to be called a superpower.

On the one hand, China has demonstrated its military strength in the India-Pakistan conflict; on the other hand, it has also gained the upper hand in the tariff war.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China has publicly stated that the US government is now actively communicating with China on a daily basis and is seeking to negotiate “reciprocal tariffs” with China, as well as conduct other trade negotiations. The Ministry of Commerce of China has indicated that it is assessing whether it is worthwhile to engage in talks with the Americans.

This is the official stance of the Chinese government. However, the mainstream public opinion in China holds a more tough position. The Chinese public opinion holds that there should be no talk of negotiations with the US.

Looking back on the summer of 2020, when the US was experiencing its worst epidemic situation with tens of thousands of deaths every day and the “Freddie Floyd incident” also occurred, China’s own epidemic situation had already been under control. However, at that moment, it was actually a good opportunity for China to weaken the US. The simplest way was to impose an absolute blockade on the US for its anti-epidemic equipment file a lawsuit against the US for the origin of the novel coronavirus at Fort Detrick, and sell off the US dollar debts held by China.

But China did not do so that time. Trump’s son-in-law Kushner personally visited China to escort the anti-epidemic equipment such as masks, and China still conducted the investigation into the origin of the virus along the route of the World Health Organization. China did not sell off its US dollar debts either.

Now the Chinese public opinion has openly determined that the novel coronavirus was produced by the US military at Fort Detrick and was spread to Wuhan by US soldiers. It was done to eliminate hundreds of millions of Chinese people. If the “Wuhan Defense Battle” in the winter and spring of 2020 failed and the early rampant novel coronavirus spread throughout China, China would lose 5-10 million people. The Americans were developing and spreading the virus with this goal in mind.

This time, Trump launched a global tariff war, and its ultimate goal was actually to target China and seize its “chives” (i.e., its economic assets). However, after all the efforts, it ended up cutting off its own head first. The prices of Chinese goods sold in the US - which are Chinese goods that Americans cannot give up - have skyrocketed. As a result, they have seriously squeezed the share of American people for purchasing goods from the US itself. Trump’s grandiose claim of revitalizing American manufacturing has collapsed completely. There is no commercial prosperity and no manufacturing prosperity either. But Trump’s intention to seize China’s economic assets is blatant.

It is estimated that China will not repeat the scene of warmth and moderation in 2020 this time. The attitude of the Chinese authorities is to “fight to the end”. Among the Chinese people, there are even calls to expel Apple and Microsoft companies. They demand that the US lift all sanctions against Huawei and lift all sanctions against Chinese new energy vehicles, etc.

At present, it can be seen that it is the US rather than China that truly fears the severing of ties and decoupling between China and the US. The US will have to lower tariffs on Chinese goods, while China may not lower tariffs on American goods. China is the largest industrial country with a complete industrial chain. Its people do not lack food, clothing or daily necessities. Without Chinese goods, the US cannot survive.

China believes that any negotiation with someone like Trump is meaningless because he simply does not keep his promises. He signs contracts today and tears them up tomorrow. Therefore, the best way to handle such negotiations is to demand exorbitant prices. Thus, the purpose of China’s negotiations with the US is mainly to stage a performance on the international stage. The performance outweighs the negotiation. The whole world should witness Trump changing his stance and showing weakness towards China.

China and the US will no longer have any opportunity for cooperation. There will also be no possibility of looking across the ocean and remaining indifferent. There will be only one outcome: one side will have to kneel down to the other.

Two major power struggles are unfolding around Nepal: the one between India and Pakistan, and the other between China and the US. As a result, challenges and opportunities are looming over Nepal. So, will Nepal grab the opportunities or get tangled with the challenges? This is a question.