Professors comment on U.S.-China relations

By LIAM KELLY news Writer

o ver the past few weeks, the United s tates has witnessed a heightening of tensions with c hina, raising concerns about a potential conflict between the two world powers.

o n Feb. 4, a U. s . F-22 fighter jet shot down a c hinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic o cean that had made its way across the U. s after being spotted by bewildered onlookers in m ontana, according to a story published by the Associated Press.

s peaking on the flight and subsequent neutralization of the c hinese spy balloon, Zoltan b uzas, associate professor of global affairs at n otre d ame, said the incident will “complicate efforts to improve s inoAmerican relations.” b uzas noted that s ecretary of s tate Antony b linken canceled his planned visit to b eijing after the balloon was shot down.

This deterioration in U. s .- c hina relations comes at a time when the two countries are voicing fierce disagreements over Taiwan and c hina’s relationship with r ussia.

n otre d ame professor of law and global affairs d iane d esierto explained that it is “not altogether clear what c hina stood to gain” from taking this step. b uzas argued the use of the spy balloon gave c hina a tactical advantage to survey U. s . military sites when compared to surveillance satellites.

“ r adars have a harder time detecting balloons, which have less predictable trajectories than satellites,” he said. “ b alloons can also collect better images, given their proximity to their targets.”

While the response of the b iden administration to the balloon incident has been criticized by some as weak, d esierto said she does not see it that way.

“I actually think the United s tates had a calibrated response,” d esierto stated.

“It made the determination of the threat assessment, it made the determination of the possible consequences for its population and ultimately, it did make it very clear to c hina that this is an obvious breach of international law.” b oth d esierto and b uzas made the point that the balloon incident will likely harm c hina’s reputation on the world stage.

“ e mploying spy balloons might be a good way to gather military intelligence, but it might strike people as amateurish,” b uzas argued.

“c hina’s already in standing breach of many of its international obligations,” d esierto added. “It’s just a flagrant invitation to worsen existing relations with many states around the world.” e arly in February, the U. s announced that it had secured access to four new military bases in the Philippines, aiming to improve their tactical position in the s outh c hina s ea and counter c hina’s territorial ambitions for Taiwan, according to an article published by the bbc d esierto argued that while c hina will strongly oppose this move, “it also has reason to be very cautious, because now there will be more permanency and regularity with respect to the presence of American troops in s outheast Asia.” s ince the shooting down of the balloon in early February, tensions have further worsened, with s ecretary b linken revealing that c hina is considering sending lethal support to r ussia in their war against Ukraine. In a story published by the Wall s treet Journal, b linken firmly stated that such a move would cause a “serious problem” in America’s relationship with c hina. c hina’s close alignment with r ussia — in addition to its violation of U. s . airspace and threatening of Taiwan — raises the frightening specter of a military conflict between the two nuclear powers. d esierto also argued that a military conflict between the two nations might not be as direct as many believe, adding that it is a “question of the degree to which the United s tates will be engaged in that conflict.”

In a letter to his officers, U. s . Air Force General m ike m inihan made the startling prediction that the U. s . will likely be at war with c hina by 2025, which was made public by nbc c ommenting on this assessment, d esierto argued that things weren’t quite that simple.

“There have been many assessments that yes, conflict with c hina is imminent, but nobody has ever pinned a date,” she said.

While the current situation might appear to be dim, there are still reasons to be optimistic, b uzas said. d esierto emphasized that in order for relations to improve, more communication is necessary from the c hinese government.

“The two countries have shared interests. s inoAmerican trade is high despite efforts to decouple. There are global problems such as climate change that require s inoAmerican cooperation,” b uzas noted, insisting there remain areas where cooperation can still take place.

“There needs to be better diplomatic communication,” d esierto said. “It certainly does not help when President Xi Jinping’s government issues inflammatory language. The Foreign m inistry pronouncements have been very inflammatory and have been very quick to characterize the United s tates as somehow the culprit.” m uch may depend on the two countries’ ability to accomplish this, d esertio emphasized. displaced from their homes due to this war, but it also reminds us that we are each on a journey to God that is made easier when we walk together.” subsequently, Jenkins, inviting his colleagues Fr. Yury P. avvakumov, Fr. herman majkrzak and Fr. a ndrij h labse into prayer, asked God to be with the people of Ukraine.

“Lord God, we pray for the people of Ukraine for all those suffering or afraid that you will be close to them and protect them,” Jenkins said. “We pray for the world leaders for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.”

Following Uc U psychology student Yevdokiia Yevdokimova’s reading from isaiah 41, Jenkins urged the notre dame community to take action through prayer.

“Let us as notre dame continue to stand with all peace-loving people in praying for an end to this unjust war,” Jenkins said. “Let us pray for peace and freedom and dignity of all the people of Ukraine and for all peoples around the world. We ask God until that comes to keep safe the innocent men, women and children who are currently in harm’s way.” a fterward, Uc U computer science exchange student Yana muliarska brought petitions before the congregation.

“We pray o Lord our God to give us the grace to remember to have mercy on our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and russia who are involved in violent conflict,” muliarska said. “remove from their needs all hostility, confusion and hatred lead everyone along the paths of reconciliation and peace.”

Wrapping up the program, barrett relayed the Ukrainian Greek c atholic c hurch’s proclamation for a day of fasting, prayer and almsgiving on Feb. 24, 2023 — marking one year from the day of the first fullscale assault of the war.

“We may want to consider spending some time tomorrow [at the Grotto] or wherever we are, participating in this day as we feel called and as we are able,” barrett said.

Jenkins called on God to intercede in the war with peace in the closing prayer.

“Lord God, look down with mercy on the people of Ukraine,” Jenkins said. “Protect and save them from unjust aggression of those who seek to subdue them… You give the people strength and courage to defend what is good, right and holy… let us pray for peace.”

Contact Peter Breen at pbreen2@nd.edu

the idea of how cool it’d be to offer the campus a more high-end coffee experience. With that idea, we thought that maybe some other marketing b elles would have the same opinion,” s hoemake said.

s hoemake went around to different marketing classes, sent out emails and eventually ended up with a board of six additional founders.

o ne of these founders, Grace m archeselli, said that the hands-on experience drew her into wanting to help.

“ i feel like in the business world, getting that experience of starting a company is what helps you learn a little bit more and helped me learn what i would want to do postgrad,” she said.

Grace b ennett, another co-founder, seconded this sentiment, saying “ i ’ve learned a lot of real world experiences.” e lizabeth a ndersen said she was drawn into helping by the fact that nothing like this has been done at s aint m ary’s.

“We all wanted to leave our mark on s aint m ary’s and this was a great way to do it,” she said.

The team talked about how their vendors were all carefully picked based on values they hold dear as b elles. a ccording to s hoemake, their coffee supplier, Uncommon c offee r oasters, has been with them through all the ups and downs of kickstarting o ff the a venue.

“What’s really great about them is that all of their coffee is sustainably farmed,” s hoemake said. “a dditionally, they have a coffee plant called s al m arya s tate, and it’s all owned by women. s o that’s really cool — it kind of ties back to one of s aint m ary’s main ideas of empowering women.” a ndersen talked about how the shop is still looking to expand its offerings, including a packaged sparkling lavender lemonade and a new cookie. a s well as menu expansions, the board also said to be on the look out for a business club they are working on to keep the coffee shop running after they graduate. m onday was the shop’s grand opening, and many students took the opportunity to be some of the first customers. h ornak spoke to local vendors the coffee shop utilizes, saying “ i think it’s an awesome initiative to have, more local stuff around here instead of big corporates like s tarbucks.”

For their food products, o ff the a venue uses r agamuffin, a local s outh b end bakery. m archeselli talked about how r agamuffin has a connection with s aint m ary’s, as well as offering exceptional products.

“a bby, the owner of r agamuffin, her mom recently retired from being a professor at s aint m ary’s in the education department,” she said.

The founders also talked about how many opportunities that have been opened to them since starting this shop, not only in trips but also making s aint m ary’s connections.

“a lot of us just viewed each other as classmates, but now i can say that they are more like the closest people i ’ve become friends with,” s hoemake said.

“We are open to removing things off the menu and putting things on it. i t’s definitely not a fixed menu,” she said.

“We’ll have students from different business majors so finance, accounting, management, marketing, and then they can oversee what we’ve been doing and make sure it’s functioning,” b ennet said.

First-years a shley s ims and m ariah h ornak came to the opening after s ims’ professor told the class about it that morning. They talked about the convenience of having a coffee shop on campus, especially in s pes Unica h all, one of the main class buildings.

“ i t’s a lot more convenient and especially being here in s pes, it’s a lot easier to just like go on my way to class so that’s nice,” s ims said.

Junior s hannon Williams said she was “super excited” for the shop to open.

“ i know we’ve wanted this open for a while and i ’m actually very happy that it finally came to fruition,” she said.

Williams talked about how nice it was that something was filling the space since the close of the old shop during covid that never re-opened.

“ s ince we didn’t have it during my freshman and sophomore years, it’s just nice to have the space filled, so i ’m super excited,” she said.

The opening even saw some tri-campus support. h oly c ross seniors a iden c avazos and b revin s lusher stopped by and said they would absolutely be returning.

“ i think it’s really important for the campus overall,” s lusher said. “ i t’s a place where you can bring people together.” a ttendees also spoke about how they loved the idea of the shop being created and run by students, and how it created so many opportunities for present and future students. s omething students can get involved in, something that would last, something that stay at s aint m ary’s even after their gone.

“ i think it’s an amazing opportunity that the business majors took on, and it’s an awesome task that will benefit people in the future and drive ambitions,” Williams said.

“ i think it sets a good example for students coming in and just kind of, what you can do here,” s lusher said. “You’re not just a student, but you can also make a bigger impact.”

Contact Katelyn Waldschmidt kwaldschmidt01@saintmarys.edu