Commentary by Zhong Sheng*
Strategic misjudgment resulting from short-sightedness and shallowness is regarded as the worst mistake in the development of China-US relations. Unfortunately, the US side has been repeating the mistake over and over again for a long time.
In its official documents from the National Security Strategy introduced in December 2017 to the National Defense Strategy released in January 2018 and then the United States Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China released in May 2020, the US has deliberately misrepresented China’s political system and development goals time after time, wantonly hyped up the so-called “China threat”, and used it as an excuse to agitate for adopting tough policies to contain China in all aspects.
Such misdeeds have fully exposed the evil intentions of the US to contain and obstruct China’s development.
Whether China and the US should benefit from cooperation or lose from confrontation is actually a simple question. It’s a pity that certain politicians in the US, who cannot understand history, grasp reality, or predict the future due to their narrow vision and shallow minds, have been obsessed with the paranoid delusion that wherever China gains, the US loses.
These politicians have seen cooperative partners as strategic rivals or even opponents, regarded competitions that promote progress as wars that have to end up with the death of one side, had their minds stuffed with deep-rooted ideological bias, and been used to basing decisions on nothing but their fusty Cold War mentality and zero-sum game mindset.
Wild urge to create ‘new Cold War’ against China
Their urge to provoke a so-called “new Cold War” against China is getting increasingly wild and their attempt to jeopardize China-US relations for selfish political gains is becoming clearer and clearer with each passing day.
Economic globalization is a natural result of the development of human productivity and market economy. In the era of economic globalization, the real global and strategic issues are peace and development, with development being the core issue.
On the one hand, developing countries cannot achieve their development goals without opening-up and introduction of the experience, scientific and technological achievements, and capital of developed countries.
On the other hand, without the growth of developing countries, capital and goods of developed countries would find no new market, which could certainly lead to limitations on their development.
Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, China’s rapid and continuous development has offered a huge market and infinite business opportunities for developed countries. In recent years, more than 30 percent of the world’s economic growth has been contributed by development of the Chinese economy. These are facts that no one can deny.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has always regarded people’s aspiration for a better life as its goal. Chinese people’s legitimate rights to pursue national development and a better life ought to be respected.
It can never be ignored or distorted that in the globalized world today, China’s development means win-win results for both China and the world. In this sense, to hinder the development of China is the same as sabotaging the development of the whole world, including the US.
Fabricating lies out of thin air
Certain US politicians have lately intensified their efforts to fabricate lies out of thin air to slander the CPC, making such malicious accusation as “CPC’s design for hegemony”, and tried to incite other countries to join its anti-China camp.
Their remarks and deeds are so ridiculous, exposing their evil intentions to impede China’s development and indicating that they are bound to be isolated in the international community.
Given that the interests of China and the US are so closely intertwined, containing China’s development is not at all in line with the interests of America and the American people.
When the US side wielded its big stick of tariffs against China, the pain was actually first inflicted upon enterprises, farmers, and consumers in the US.
Extremely worried about the consequences of the US’s decision to impose new additional tariffs on Chinese goods, representatives of US companies, farmers and consumers directly pointed out that these new tariffs would become “a nail in the coffin” for businesses at a hearing held at the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
In the face of US suppression of certain Chinese companies through political means, many entrepreneurs and far-sighted people in the US explicitly said that such a move was sacrificing interests of the US
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, some politicians in the US have been politicizing the pandemic and stigmatizing China. However, they can never cover up the truth about their inadequate response to the outbreak.
Old trick of buck-passing
As the surging number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities arouses strong dissatisfaction among the public, certain politicians’ old trick of buck-passing and political manipulation would only add fuel to the flames of fury.
It has been proven again that no country can pay the debts of domestic governance for the US government, and the US side will never “make America great again” by suppressing China.
The US strategy of containing China is tantamount to a hotbed for troubles and harm.
People with breadth of vision have increasingly been aware that the moves taken by the US to curb China’s development have caused harm for the US instead.
It is “flat wrong” to suggest that working with China has not served US interests, said Robert B. Zoellick, former US deputy secretary of state, adding that “self-deception will lead to dangerous diplomacy”.
“We must call out the China Threat hucksters as posing a clear and present danger to the safety and well-being of all Americans,” an article published in the US magazine The Nation in May pointed out.
The leadership of the CPC and the development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics are the choices of history and the Chinese people.
As it has been demonstrated repeatedly by history, any external pressure only makes Chinese people unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee, and any attempt to obstruct China’s development is bound to fail.
Standing firm in community of nations
The world has seen clearly that China has unshakeable confidence and determination to continue down the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics against all odds, run its own affairs, and stand firm in the community of nations.
Some politicians in the US have made a serious misjudgment when talking about the relationship between the CPC and the Chinese people, pointed out Singaporean scholar Kishore Mahbubani.
The CPC is not a party about to crack up under American pressure: it is floating on an ocean of legitimacy among 1.4 billion Chinese people, who are now happy as they are experiencing a new high tide in the history of Chinese civilization, said the scholar in an article carried by the National Interest.
Today, emerging markets and developing countries are rising faster than ever before, while the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation are bringing to the world unprecedented changes and fierce competitions.
Since the trend of the times can never be stopped, established powers particularly need to treat the rise of emerging powers with a healthy and rational mentality. By sharing opportunities with each other and drawing on each other’s strengths, developing countries and developed countries can surely make the “cake” of common interests bigger, improve people’s well-being and guarantee peace for the world.
“The West can and must live with a rising China. But it should do so by being true to the better angels of its own nature. If it is to manage this turn of the wheel of history, it has to look within,” wrote Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.
Certain US politicians should really listen to the advice.
A government can never reverse the general trend of the times, and should never go against people’s will. These are major issues of principle that allow no misjudgment.
The US side ought to choose to meet China halfway and make joint efforts with China to create a general landscape in which the two countries can cooperate while they compete, achieve win-win results in cooperation, and realize common development that the people of China and the US have always wanted.
*Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by the People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy
