Former British Defense Secretary Threatens China’s Misdeeds Means We Need To Go to War

April 27, 2020 (EIRNS)—Former British Defense Secretary Tobias Ellwood (2017-19) penned a diatribe against China in the Mail on Sunday, denouncing President Donald Trump for inaction against China, comparing the situation to the 1930s “which could easily lead to war,” concluding that “it is time for Britain, in particular, to act.”

Under the title: “The Global Race for a Vaccine Will Turn Nasty—Get Ready for Cyber Attacks and Data Theft,” he warns that China may find the vaccine first, since “President Xi has harnessed the vast resources of the Chinese state to just this purpose.... It would be a terrible irony if China, the source of the outbreak, were to profit from the chaos it has wrought, but that is its intention.”

But the danger is not just over COVID-19, he writes: “And this life-and-death race for a vaccine throws into sharp relief the wider struggle for global power now under way. We are at a geo-political turning point as China attempts to re-shape the world order to suit itself.”

Trump’s relations with Xi Jinping are dangerous, he intones:

“Under Donald Trump, the U.S. has decided to leave the stage. President Xi has been only too happy to fill the vacuum. He was already reinterpreting the global economic architecture well before the pandemic, giving China license to advance its reach well beyond its own shores. Now, with the world caught off guard, China’s strategy can accelerate. It wishes not merely to consolidate its grip on power, but to promote both authoritarianism and chaos.... China is emerging stronger than ever, wielding its influence faster and more aggressively, filling the void created by other nations as they retreat.”

Perhaps we need a war, he suggests:

“Today, we should all heed the echoes of the 1930s, with a rise in nationalism, a global recession and a demise in world order that could easily lead to war.... And as we work through our own domestic challenges, we must once again be willing to stand firm in defending our values and standards as we did in the 1930s.... And it is time for Britain, in particular, to act. The world is fast moving into a dangerous new era. If we don’t take the initiative—as we have done in the past, then who will?”

Oh, for a lovely little war...