Structural Asymmetry in G2 Diplomacy: How US-China ‘Equality’ Narratives Mask Geopolitical Hierarchy and Global South Exclusion
Original framing: “The ‘G2’ illusion? After Xi-Trump summit, China wants equality while the US seeks deals” — South China Morning Post
The current US-China dynamic is a direct continuation of the post-WWII Bretton Woods system, which institutionalized Western economic dominance through the IMF, World Bank, and dollar-based trade. The Washington Consensus further entrenched neoliberal policies that subordinated Global South economies to Western financial interests, creating the very asymmetries China now seeks to redress. China’s rise is not just economic but a response to historical inequities—such as the unequal treaties of the 19th century—that still shape global power structures today. The ‘G2’ framing erases this history by treating the US and China as equal actors in a vacuum, ignoring how China’s growth is constrained by US-led sanctions, tech warfare, and financial exclusion.
The US-China ‘equality’ debate is a smokescreen for the structural power asymmetries embedded in post-WWII global governance, where the US dollar, sanctions regimes, and Western-led institutions still dictate the terms of engagement.
Historical precedents like the Washington Consensus and unequal treaties reveal that China’s rise is not just economic but a logical response to centuries of exclusion, yet this is framed as disruptive rather than restorative. The Global South’s increasing agency—through BRICS, African Union initiatives, and Indigenous governance models—is systematically sidelined in favor of a G2 binary that obscures the diversity of global preferences. Artistic and trickster perspectives expose the absurdity of treating great-power rivalry as neutral, while future modelling shows that the current system is unsustainable without inclusive reforms. The path forward lies in decolonizing institutions, integrating marginalized voices, and reimagining governance through relational frameworks like *ubuntu* or *kāwanatanga*, where equality is not a transaction but a collective commitment to justice.