Via Gideon Rachman at the FT:
During the cold war, there was an “east” bloc and a “west” bloc and nations were defined by whether they were closer to Washington or Moscow.
…In the battle for influence with China, the US’s trump card is often security rather than trade. Countries including Japan, South Korea, Germany and Australia now all do more trade with China than the US. But they all still look to America for military protection.
