On May 3, the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held, and the seven countries plus the invited countries should have discussed how to prevent the epidemic and economic cooperation in the context of the epidemic. However, at the meeting, they talked a lot about the Sino-Russian threat theory, and even interfered in China's internal affairs, discussing Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other issues.
After the discussion of these political issues, the United States launched a call to participate in the conference to jointly launch economic sanctions against China, but it was directly rejected by Germany and Italy, which have close trade relations with China.
This situation can't help but remind people of the historical Maginot Line, like the recent Group of 7, which seems to be unbreakable, but in fact has no use. And this line of defense, today, is not built by France, but by the United States.
In this issue, we will talk about how the United States built the Maginot Line to contain China. Friends who like the content of this issue can like and support it.
What is the Maginot Line? After the end of World War I, Germany surrendered in defeat, austria-Hungary disintegrated, the October Revolution broke out in Russia, and only France became the biggest winner of the war on the entire European continent, maintaining the situation in post-war Europe together with Britain. However, on the surface of the seeming victory, there is a huge crisis lurking.
The French were deeply aware that in the First World War, the country's losses were not worse than Germany's, although Germany was constrained by post-war regulations, but Germany's developed industrial base and population beyond France's were still the capital of Germany's rise.
Under such circumstances, France felt it necessary to build a military defensive line on the Franco-German border to prevent a possible German attack on France again. But how do you build a defensive line?
After discussion, the French decided to build a defensive line in the industrially developed northeast, and as for northern France and the Ardennes, because of the terrain and Belgium, the French abandoned the construction of the defensive line.
After the successful construction of the defensive line, in order to better defend Germany, France negotiated with the British to send a large number of soldiers to guard the western part of the Belgian border where Germany was very likely to choose to attack France. The defensive line built in the northeastern part of France is the historically famous Maginot Line.
However, it is not famous for successfully defending against the German offensive, but for the defense line that took the French more than a decade and 5 billion francs to play a little defensive role when the Germans attacked.
In a short time, the German army bypassed the defensive line from the Ardennes and forced the Anglo-French forces to carry out the most classic retreat in history, the Dunkirk Evacuation. France also gave up resistance after the Dunkirk evacuation and quickly surrendered. Later, people used the Maginot Line to describe what seemed powerful and unbreakable, but in fact had no effect.
At the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in May 2021, after the seven leading capitalist powers briefly discussed the issue of economic development cooperation under the leadership of the United States, they began to discuss China, from Xinjiang and Hong Kong to Taiwan and the South China Sea, wantonly criticizing China's internal affairs, describing the old hegemonic ideas of the seven countries as democracy in the new era, and wanting to build a new Maginot line of defense politically and economically. In fact, since the beginning of 2021, the United States has begun to build the Maginot Line in the economic, diplomatic and other fields with an incomparably "confident" attitude.
The United States has mobilized countries with which it has trade relations, such as Australia, to undermine the Belt and Road Initiative. In coordination with some countries, such as France, they have made remarks on interfering in China's internal affairs on the Taiwan issue. Even in vaccines, India and China are launched to engage in an export competition. It didn't take long, however, for some problems to arise between the allies, and one could not help but think of the useless Maginot Line.
The first is the United States, during Trump's tenure, the US government vigorously engaged in the "America first" principle, not only to threaten NATO members to pay military fees by withdrawing from the group, but also at a series of working meetings such as the G7 summit, the G20 summit, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and other working meetings, quarreled with allies, once caused many countries to be dissatisfied with the United States.
Biden took office in 2021, originally thought that the United States would change the "America First" policy, but as a result, in the Indian epidemic, the United States resolutely ignored India's rescue on the grounds of "America first".
When Australia frequently attacked China, after China announced that it would indefinitely stop economic dialogue, the United States suddenly seized Australia's coal market and made a windfall. This move to abandon teammates at critical moments, the United States has done a lot. Therefore, the German Merkel has always considered the interests of her own country on the issue of Russia and China initiated by the United States, and she is afraid of being betrayed by the United States.
At the G7 foreign ministers' meeting, the United States proposed to sanction China economically, and it did not take long for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to publicly state that Germany would decide whether to cooperate with China according to its own interests.
China in recent years, has been an important trading partner of Germany, German automobile and many other industries are very dependent on the Chinese market, coupled with the impact of the epidemic, Germany needs China's very stable foreign trade market, so in the face of Germany, which needs economic development, sanctioning China's economy is equivalent to harming Germany's interests.
In addition, Italy also directly announced in the G7 that it refused to sanction China, and wanted to value trade with China like Germany.
This is not the time when Germany clashed with the United States in 2021, when it was besieging Russia. The United States tried to force Germany to stop the Nord Stream 2 project, which was jointly developed with Russia, but was strongly rejected by Merkel, who took the national interest as the starting point.
If only the contradictions between Germany and the United States do not affect the actions of the United States to contain China, then the contradictions between Britain and France will be more critical. At the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, britain strongly agreed with the united states to launch a check on China, and France also agreed. Although the two countries have reached a consensus on the Issue of China for the time being, there is obviously a conflict in the interests of the two countries.
After Brexit, the United Kingdom has returned to the traditional diplomatic strategy, that is, the United Kingdom will maintain a neutral and wait-and-see attitude towards the problems of the countries on the European continent, but if it is possible to obtain huge benefits, the United Kingdom will be very willing to participate, such as besieging Russia and interfering in China's internal affairs.
However, the United Kingdom, which has just left the European Union, does not seem to be able to cut ties with the European continent quickly. Before Brexit, Britain and France were in the same Eu, economic cooperation was close, and for the two countries in the same place, the British occupied most of the English Channel, and adopted the joint cooperation fishing regulations under the EU system.
However, after Brexit, in order to protect its own interests, the United Kingdom released a list of French fishing boats that can enter British waters from May 1 on April 30. The list shows that of the 344 fishing applications submitted by France, only 41 fishing vessels were approved. And the British government, while agreeing, has made strict regulations on the waters that these fishing vessels can enter, as well as the number of fishing days, fishing gear, and types.
Britain's move completely ignited the mood of fishermen in both countries.
The French fishermen felt that they had been targeted by the British government because they had not been informed in advance, which would cost them half of their turnover.
At the same time, they felt that the French government was too weak to protect even their own people. However, British fishermen feel that it is unfair to let French fishermen fish unscrupulously in British waters while adding many fishing restrictions to their own fishermen.
Angry French fishermen then dispatched more than 80 fishing boats to besiege British ports, and even some fishing boats crashed into British fishing boats. The British, on the other hand, dispatched 2 patrol boats to warn the French fishing boats.
In fact, it is not the first time that the two countries have clashed over fishing, as early as 2018, the two countries clashed over the fishing of scallops, and finally even the warships of the two countries intervened in it, known as the "Scallop War". At present, the fishing conflict between the two countries has not been properly resolved, and the two governments are still fighting a "war of words".
Under such circumstances, France was invited by the United States to send warships to the East China Sea to conduct joint military island seizure exercises with the United States and Japan, with the intention of pointing directly at China's Diaoyu Islands. At the same time, Britain also announced that it would send warships to the South China Sea to provoke trouble, but it did not know this move, some against China, some against France.
When the Contradiction between England and France was triggered, there were also differences between France and Germany. Since the end of World War II, Germany's economic strength has long been the first in Europe because of its strong industrial base and the support of the United States, which makes France jealous. As one of the five permanent members of the United Nations and a country with many nuclear weapons, France is not as economically developed as Germany.
Therefore, France opposed the economic cooperation between Germany and Russia, agreed to sanction China economically, accepted the invitation of the United States to conduct military exercises with Japan, and unscrupulously developed the economy and restricted Germany's development.
In addition to these contradictions, none of the many allies of the United States are of the same heart and mind, and they are all stirring up the situation. So this is why, after entering 2021, the United States has made many moves to shock the world, but the results have been very small. It can be said that the Maginot Line built by the United States is even inferior to that built by France.
Built in France, although useless, it is also made of solid reinforced concrete, standing in front of it, giving people a solid feeling. And the defense line of the United States, built by the so-called "democratic", "humanitarian" and centrifugal allies, not only has no effect in the face of the facts, but also gives people a sense of paper paste.
At present, the United States is still trying to build and consolidate this defense line, attracting many allies to gather in the South China Sea and the East China Sea to make trouble. China has only always stood in the forefront of history. This line of defense will be self-defeating, and the United States will be reduced to a laughingstock.
Resources
YANG Kai. The Maginot Line and French Military Strategy[J].Studies in Military History, 1992, (No. 2).
ZONG He. The Anglo-French "Scallop War": The Curse of Food[J].Talk,2018,(Issue 19).