A ruling class? Seems to me that the ruling class (savage capitalists and greedy entrepeneurs) has been whoring itself for too long with dictators for way too long and that people are choosing to not turn the blind eye anymore.
Have you ever considered that such distorted view of pragmatism is exactly what created the many gray areas for dictatorships to exploit in recent years? The so-called cold calculation served for some time but also met its expiry date. The can of worms was opened as soon as the West turned blind eyes to abuses from certain dictatorships, so much that abuses became more overt and that anti-democracy became mainstream worldwide as well.
If democratic countries stood taller and stronger by their own principles over the last decade, would major dictatorships have become any stronger since? Would democratically elected governments from Myanmar and Senegal have been kicked out in such a violent manner without serious backing from China and Russia respectively? Would Ukraine have been invaded? Now that we can't repair the past, all there is left is to do whatever necessary to protect democratic institutions against autocratic influence.
If you don't like the way things are going within Western and European political circles towards China or the likes, then it is too bad. This new cold war has already begun between democracy and autocracy instead of simply capitalism against communism. Autocrats already made the first move across the world, so it's up to believers of democracy to respond with a strong share of strength. Personally, I want nothing less than all autocratic regimes to fall flat on their faces down the road. Call me crazy all you want; I don't care anymore.
There is a section of the ruling class, including capitalists, who favour confrontation with China. Among big capitalists, defence companies are the obvious ones, but there's also random ones like chip makers. More than anything, the
small business owners who have (all the way since the 30s) been confrontational anti-Communists, and are massively influential in local and state politics.
Totally disagree with your second para. Whether it's been pragmatic or moralistic, the west has always been "turning a blind eye" to, and outright favouring, multiple brutal dictatorships. Suharto came to power in a US-backed coup and killed a million, with the US helping him diplomatically and the CIA helping him with kill lists. This wasn't pragmatically working with the dealt cards, this was proactive work against potentially Soviet-friendly Sukarno. The dictatorship of Syngnam Rhee (so incompetent that North Korea was outperforming them economically till he was kicked out of office) was propped up with massive US financial and military aid, before and after the Korean war, through multiple massacres. In the past decade Saudi Arabia has carried out bombings and a blockade in Yemen leading to famine and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Diplomatic support for the Saudis is a given, but the US does more: US-made Saudi attack aircraft get refueled on the way to their targets by USAF tankers. None of this comes from pragmatists turning a blind eye, this is what a proactive strategy, couched always in moral terms, looks like. In the first two examples it was anti-Communism, in the next it is encircling Iran/war on terror.
Not even mentioned Latin America, too many examples to even count.
I don't know what "principles" democratic countries should stand by regarding dictators. They've never had any principle other than helping allied dictators and attacking hostile ones. One of NATO's early heads was a high-ranking Wehrmacht general involved in war crimes on the eastern front. It's *always* been this way.
I don't see it as a principled clash at all. US officials have been open about the technological competition/superiority aspect of all this. The fact that everyone in power in the US (and most politically engaged people) seem to think that it is a moral clash, is what is dangerous.
Finally, about insanity: a few things.
I lived in China for a year, and knew somebody whose parents fled in the 70s. Literally swam across a small sea channel evading armed guards in a watchtower, to reach Macao. Naturally he quite anti-Mao. When he was growing up, his hometown was a fishing village. 20 years ago, when I first met him, it was a growing coastal city. I saw a
video of it recently on youtube and it's an unrecognizable urban centre, full of surreal neon lights and a lot more greenery. In the last 10 years, he's been all praise for the government because of the extent of the economic transformation. I don't know if Chinese troops and the Chinese population match their enemies' will to fight and battle-hardiness. But if he is any indication, even when they disagree with their govt about specific things, they support it overall, quite strongly. So making "all autocratic regimes to fall flat on their faces down the road" will be a lot harder than it seems, in the case of China at least.
Second, China's insane foreign policy...They know what an insane uphill climb Taiwan is. And they still insist on pissing off every one of their neighbours with a border dispute. Vietnam in 1975 and India in the 50s would happily have gotten along with the PRC if they didn't push their border claims with the PLA. With the result that they've almost encircled themselves with hostile neighbours (these two + Japan, Philippines).
Finally, the insanity of the entire conflict in the backdrop of climate change. There is only one country with the industrial base and manufacturing track record in producing the wind turbines and solar panels that are needed everywhere in the world. Keeping these flowing would be the priority of any rational setup. Is this stuff even considered? Does anybody given a damn? If a world war is likely, is it in Chinese interest to accelerate their renewable transition? Surely that silicon will be used in missile guidance chips rather than solar panels, and that metal in trucks rather than wind turbines. It is collective suicide - but it will hurt the 3rd world much, much more, so it is an acceptable cost.
