Yeah I wouldn’t bet on that. Covid cratered the Chinese economy just like everybody else, but not a whiff of social unrest out of China. Although given what a black box China is I’m not sure we’d even know if there was. A government willing to weld people into in their homes doesn’t really care much about a rising unemployment rate.
If the EU actually cuts a new trade agreement with China we could find ourselves in a tough spot. And speaking of the EU, what exactly is their problem? They’re happy to rake the U.S. over the coals and accuse us of abdicating leadership for not being sufficiently antagonistic towards Russia.
But when the U.S. pivots to confront the real threat to the global order in China they are nowhere to be found. Not their backyard, not their problem. Even worse they start gravitating towards the Chinese. With allies like that, who needs enemies?