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<big><big><strong><font size="3"><big><big>The birth of the
'de-Americanized' world</big></big></font></strong></big></big><br>
By Pepe Escobar<br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-02-151013.html">http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-02-151013.html</a></small></small></b><br>
<br>
This is it. China has had enough. The (diplomatic) gloves are off. It's
time to build a "de-Americanized" world. It's time for a "new
international reserve currency" to replace the US dollar. <br>
<br>
It's all here, in a <a
href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-10/13/c_132794246.htm">Xinhua
editorial</a>, straight from the dragon's mouth. And the year is only
2013. Fasten your seat belts - and that applies especially to the
Washington elites. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. <br>
<br>
Long gone are the Deng Xiaoping days of "keeping a low profile". The
Xinhua editorial summarizes the straw that broke the dragon's back -
the current US shutdown. After the Wall Street-provoked
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financial crisis, after the war on Iraq, a "befuddled world", and not
only China, wants change. <br>
<br>
This paragraph couldn't be more graphic:
<blockquote>Instead of honoring its duties as a responsible leading
power, a self-serving Washington has abused its superpower status and
introduced even more chaos into the world by shifting financial risks
overseas, instigating regional tensions amid territorial disputes, and
fighting unwarranted wars under the cover of outright lies.</blockquote>
The solution, for Beijing, is to "de-Americanize" the current
geopolitical equation - starting with more say in the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank for emerging economies and the developing
world, leading to a "new international reserve currency that is to be
created to replace the dominant US dollar". <br>
<br>
Note that Beijing is not advocating completely smashing the Bretton
Woods system - at least for now, but it is for having more deciding
power. Sounds reasonable, considering that China holds slightly more
weight inside the IMF than Italy. IMF "reform" - sort of - has been
going on since 2010, but Washington, unsurprisingly, has vetoed
anything substantial. <br>
<br>
As for the move away from the US dollar, it's also already on, in
varying degrees of speed, especially concerning trade amongst the BRICS
group of emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, China and South
Africa), which is now overwhelmingly in their respective currencies.
The US dollar is slowly but surely being replaced by a basket of
currencies. <br>
<br>
"De-Americanization" is also already on. Take last week's Chinese trade
charm offensive across Southeast Asia, which is incisively leaning
towards even more action with their top commercial partner, China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping clinched an array of deals with Indonesia,
Malaysia and also Australia, only a few weeks after clinching another
array of deals with the Central Asian "stans". <br>
<br>
Chinese commitment to improve the Iron Silk Road reached fever pitch,
with shares of Chinese rail companies going through the roof amid the
prospect of a high-speed rail link with and through Thailand actually
materializing. In Vietnam, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sealed an
understanding that two country's territorial quarrels in the South
China Sea would not interfere with even more business. Take that,
"pivoting" to Asia. <br>
<br>
<b>All aboard the petroyuan</b><br>
Everyone knows Beijing holds Himalayas of US Treasury bonds - courtesy
of those massive trade surpluses accumulated over the past three
decades plus an official policy of keeping the yuan appreciating very
slowly, yet surely. <br>
<br>
At the same time, Beijing has been acting. The yuan is also slowly but
surely becoming more convertible in international markets. (Just last
week, the European Central Bank and the People?s Bank of China agreed
to set up a US$45-$57 billion currency swap line that will add to the
yuan's international strength and improve access to trade finance in
the euro area.)
<br>
<br>
The unofficial date for full yuan convertibility could fall anywhere
between 2017 and 2020. The target is clear; move away from piling up US
debt, which implies, in the long run, Beijing removing itself from this
market - and thus making it way more costly for the US to borrow. The
collective leadership in Beijing has already made up its mind about it,
and is acting accordingly.
<br>
<br>
The move towards a full convertible yuan is as inexorable as the BRICS
move towards a basket of currencies progressively replacing the US
dollar as a reserve currency. Until, further on down the road, the real
cataclysmic event materializes; the advent of the petroyuan - destined
to surpass the petrodollar once the Gulf petro-monarchies see which way
the historical winds are blowing. Then we will enter a completely
different geopolitical ball game.
<br>
<br>
We may be a long way away, but what is certain is that Deng Xiaoping's
famous set of instructions is being progressively discarded; "Observe
calmly; secure our position; cope with affairs calmly; hide our
capacities and bide our time; be good at maintaining a low profile; and
never claim leadership." <br>
<br>
A mix of caution and deception, grounded on China's historical
confidence and taking into consideration serious long-term ambition,
this was classic Sun Tzu. So far, Beijing was laying low; letting the
adversary commit fatal mistakes (and what a collection of
multi-trillion-dollar mistakes... ); and accumulating "capital". <br>
<br>
The time to capitalize has now arrived. By 2009, after the Wall
Street-provoked financial crisis, there were already Chinese rumblings
about the "malfunctioning of the Western model" and ultimately the
"malfunctioning of Western culture". <br>
<br>
Beijing has listened to Dylan (with Mandarin subtitles?) and concluded
yes, the times they-are-a-changing. With no foreseeable social,
economic and political progress - the shutdown is just another graphic
illustration, if any was needed - the US slide is as inexorable as
China, bit by bit, spreading its wings to master 21st century
post-modernity. <br>
<br>
Make no mistake; the Washington elites will fight it like the ultimate
plague. Still, Antonio Gramsci's intuition must now be upgraded; the
old order has died, and the new one is one step closer to being born. <br>
<br>
<i><b>Pepe Escobar</b> is the author of </i><a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0978813820/simpleproduction/ref=nosim">Globalistan:
How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War</a> <i>(Nimble
Books, 2007), </i><a
href="http://www.amazon.com/Red-Zone-Blues-snapshot-Baghdad/dp/0978813898">Red
Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge</a> <i>(Nimble
Books, 2007), and </i><a
href="http://www.amazon.com/Obama-Does-Globalistan-Pepe-Escobar/dp/1934840831">Obama
does Globalistan</a> <i>(Nimble Books, 2009).
<br>
<br>
He may be reached at <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pepeasia@yahoo.com">pepeasia@yahoo.com</a>.</i>
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