Commentary
BEIJING – The US government recently rejected a Russian proposal to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty for at least one year without conditions. A US representative to the United Nations also leveled baseless accusations against China’s arms control policy.
However, it is hegemony-minded Washington that poses the gravest threat to global strategic security and stability.
Historically, the US defense policy has been infamously known for thriving on the idea that the United States must have an enemy and if there is none, the best thing is to create one.
As said once by former US president Jimmy Carter in 2019, the United States is “the most warlike nation in the history of the world” because it has only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its 240-odd-year history.
This is because of America’s tendency to force other nations to “adopt our American principles,” Newsweek then quoted Carter as saying.
Today, as the world’s leading military power, the United States is indulged with various “threat theories” and “war theories,” blatantly defining China and Russia as strategic competitors, hyping up external threats, and stirring up confrontation among major countries.
Obsessed with military build-up, the United States ranks first in military expenditure in the world. It spent more than US$700 billion on the military in 2019, nearly 40 percent of the world’s total, and more than the next 10 countries combined. Even so, the Pentagon continues to increase its military spending, with its 2020 defense budget at a record US$738 billion.
In order to maintain its hegemony, the United States is not satisfied with simply leading others in military prowess. Instead, Washington seeks to overwhelm other nations militarily.
In recent years, the Pentagon has even started relaunching its star wars program by creating the Space Force and speeding up weapon tests and military drills in outer space. These acts pose serious threats to outer space security and grossly contradict the principle of the peaceful use of outer space.
Washington has also withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and impeded biological arms control by single-handedly blocking the relaunch of negotiations for a protocol that includes a verification regime to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention.
All these US tactics and political maneuvering have exposed its pure pragmatism on bilateral and multilateral arms control treaties and regimes, making Washington a stumbling block for global cause of arms control.
Washington is also breaking the strategic balance by deploying missile defense systems in the Asia-Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe, and is planning to deploy land-based medium range missiles in the Asia-Pacific and Europe.
As noted recently by Ambassador Geng Shuang, deputy permanent representative of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the United Nations, the US purpose is to enhance military presence and seek absolute dominance.
Peaceful development and win-win cooperation have for long become the consensus of the international community. As the strongest military power in the world, the United States shoulders more obligations of safeguarding global peace and must act responsibly in arms control and disarmament. – Xinhua
