The Real War: U.S. vs. China – Video

(Art design – featured image: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli)

The tension between the U.S. and China, marked by constant ups and downs between the two giants, has become a permanent feature of the 21st-century international order. It impacts us all. It must be mainstreamed into our analyses, into the way we anticipate and foresee the future. What is going on, at a deep level? What do we need to understand?

Discover the essentials quickly in the video below, then explore the issue in depth through Helene Lavoix’s article ‘The War between China and the U.S. – The Normative Dimension’, which served as the basis for the NotebookLM video. The article includes the full bibliography and references. Finally, see how these dynamics play out in practice with another illustrative Chinese moment: the closing tableau of the Commemorative Gala marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender.

Watch the video

Read the article

https://redanalysis.org/2022/07/04/the-war-between-china-and-the-u-s-the-normative-dimension/

Another Chinese Illustrative Moment

On 3 September 2025 China celebrated the 80th anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender. All eyes were turned towards the military parade, which was indeed impressive, and the related diplomatic meetings. The Commemorative Gala marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender* was as fascinating and meaningful, however benefiting from far less coverage in the West. China broadcast it live on China Central Television (CCTV.com), the national television broadcaster of China. The video can still be watched on the Youtube Channel of the South China Morning Post (SCMP):

In the framework of the current normative war, the closing tableau of the gala (starting 1:30:28), titled “Singing and dancing with a shared destiny” (歌舞命运与共), is particularly important. It stresses China’s vision for the future and how China perceives its own role in promoting this shared destiny of peace for the world.

The major symbol used is the flight of doves, which universally evokes peace. We may also wonder if the flowers (stage wall and side curtains, and carried by the children) are not a subtle reference to the thought of Xi Jinping when he proposed the Global Civilization Initiative (全球文明倡议 – quán qiú wén míng chàng yì):

“A single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden [“一花独放不是春，百花齐放春满园。”]. As the future of all countries are closely connected, tolerance, coexistence, exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations play an irreplaceable role in advancing humanity’s modernization process and making the garden of world civilizations flourish. [在各国前途命运紧密相连的今天，不同文明包容共存、交流互鉴，在推动人类社会现代化进程、繁荣世界文明百花园中具有不可替代的作用。]

Here, I wish to propose the Global Civilization Initiative. [在此，我愿提出全球文明倡议。]”

Xi Jiping, “Join Hands on the Path Towards Modernization”, 15 March 2023, MOFA, PRC, full text of the keynote speech.

Finally, the song “Shared Destiny” (KuGou Music) spells out and reinforces the message (see lyrics below).

China thus goes on asserting its strength and power – the military parade, while promoting an enticing international and civilizational goal presented in a bewitching form – the gala.

Two different visions of the world order, everyday reasserted, with two champions, the U.S. and China, are thus at war, more than ever. Let us not be collateral damages in this clash of titans.

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Notes

*The full title of the Commemoration in English is:

“Justice Will Prevail
A Cultural Performance Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.”

**The lyrics of the final song of the Chinese Gala “Justice Will Prevail” are (references from “命运与共” (Shared Destiny), Baidu):