The U.S.-China confrontation has become white-hot in recent years. The U.S. created the causes, and most of its tensions are also caused by the U.S. But the U.S. policy toward China is persistently wrong. China is not a warmonger. The US anti-China policy is entirely based on its misjudgment of China. The author believes that the U.S. has made the following six major misjudgments about China, which will have terrible consequences. (See Part I and II)
(Continued from Part I)
China can maintain an economic engine with dual cylinders (circulation), one, domestic consumption, and the other, external trade and export. China is currently the leading trading partner of more than 120 countries in the world, and its national economy is the second largest in the world. However, its per capita income is still 30-40% behind developed countries. Based on the goal of requiring the country's people to achieve a middle-class living standard, China's economic development still has a lot to accomplish. However, the U.S. misjudged this, tried its best to badmouth China, constantly promoted the theory of China's collapse, and hyped anti-China ideology in the media. But after 30 to 40 years of crying bear, the bear has not struck China. Africans now want to learn from the Chinese economic model, Europeans and South Americans are beginning to warm up to China, welcoming its presence (infrastructure such as high-speed rails, %/6 G Internet, and electric vehicles), and Southeast Asians understand the benefit of not choosing sides. If the U.S. still wants to form cliques to suppress China, it may be a thankless task, a doomed foreign policy.
5. Misunderstandings about the Belt and Road Initiative
The international rivalry between China and the U.S. is indeed a struggle for global influence. Since WW II, the U.S. has become the world's largest economy and the largest military power; and has naturally embarked on the path to world leadership. The US Marshall Plan helped many countries recover after WW II and was welcomed by many countries. Today's rise of China will inevitably have an impact on the world. China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an economic development plan (for mutual and world development). Its concept is based on the principle of mutual assistance (collaboration) and win-win economic development. China has manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure technologies (highway, railways, shipping, hydropower development, and communication facilities; lately green energy and electric vehicles.). The BRI can help other countries develop, and it can absorb China's overcapacity of production. It is a win-win program (no less than the Marshall Plan), but the U.S. has no intention of cooperating and instead, it slanders BRI with misinformation. This is another serious misjudgment that leads the U.S. to lose an opportunity for cooperation for mutual benefits and a loss of opportunity for benefitting mankind around the world. At present, BRI has 150 country members and organizations participating, but if the U.S. also participates, the effect will be even more amazing.
6. The illusion of Taiwan’s democratic system
Unfortunately, the misjudgment of China by the U.S. has pushed the U.S. onto an all-out anti-China path. With its century-old hegemonic behavior and habits, the U.S. cannot tolerate China's rapid rise, so it uses various means to contain China, deploying an island chain of military alliances, slandering China with human rights violations and freedom restrictions, applying trade, technology and investment sanctions, and of course engaging diplomatic rivalry. Taiwan has been part of China through many dynasties, despite being geographically separated by the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan's governance is a legacy of the Chinese Civil War after WW II. After maintaining a vague attitude for many decades (recognizing one China with sovereignty over Taiwan but unwilling to see their reunification for US strategic interests), the U.S. has changed its attitude in recent years and instigated Taiwan to resist and obstruct peaceful reunification. The U.S. Congress passed several bills to sell arms to Taiwan (Why?), but the U.S. has a wishful thinking that Taiwan’s democratic system is attractive to the mainland people (a lighthouse for calling Chinese people to uproot CCP, wishful thinking!). Glorifying Taiwan's elections and playing the Taiwan card (while China's economy is strong and Taiwan's export depends on China) can make the mainland people uneasy, even angry, of course annoying the CCP.
Anyone who has been to China knows the patriotic sentiments of the Chinese people. The Chinese people have strong self-confidence. China's rejuvenation and overgrowing strength are inevitable, and so is its will to reunify Taiwan. China will not fall for the fake tension created by the Western media. The U.S. scheme of making Taiwan like Ukraine is so illogical that even many U.S. security analysts don't agree. Taiwan has transformed its government into an elected system, but it is by no means a shining success. Democracy has its weaknesses and deficiencies as exhibited by the U.S. elections, runaway budget deficits, and inefficiencies in national infrastructure projects, it is best to let the people learn and reform their government naturally and peacefully without external interference. The bitter Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine wars are clear examples of external interference. China's peaceful reunification plan has patiently waited for seven decades. Chinese people believe that patience and time are the best solutions for any internal or neighborly disputes, and they resent external interference.
The surge and loss of American self-confidence
The national chaos in the U.S. is obvious to all, internal violence and external war affairs are daily headlines. The two American parties are fighting for power without regard to the interests of the country and its people. Politicians focus entirely on winning votes. At present, both parties in the U.S. are blaming China to deflect domestic problems. On the one hand, they use wars to pump people's patriotic sentiment, competitive spirit, and self-confidence. On the other hand, they are worried that Americans will wake up to reality, unable to cope with facts, and eventually lose self-confidence. The U.S. used NATO to provoke a war between Russia and Ukraine but was unable to deal with the aftermath. (Some Americans would like to pull out of NATO, like cutting a cancer tumor.) The U.S. supports Israel's attack on the Hamas but cannot control Israel's genocide actions. The U.S. has undermined its own rules and lost confidence in free trade and market competition. The US prestige in the international community is waning, and it continues to rely on military power for deterrence, but the U.S. - China confrontation has shown that the U.S. has more ambition than ability, it knows there is no sure victory against China. Its alliance strategy may not produce a solid union because other members have different interests and dependencies on China. If the U.S. persists with its ill-justified anti-China strategy, it may lead to a war with China, a possible nuclear WW III. The U.S. cannot stand aloof like two previous world wars. The war will come to the U.S. continent causing serious destruction.
Therefore, if the U.S. does not reflect on its China policies and change its attitude, the consequences will be a disaster for mankind. The wrong policies are influenced by the above six misjudgments. But, if the U.S. and China would cooperate in world governance and global development, it would be mutually beneficial for the economy (trade relations), industry (complimentary supply chains), and technology (scientific research and space exploration). The choice should be clear to any rational mind. The question is: Do Americans have a choice in influencing American foreign policies? The handling of current student protests in many U.S. college campuses against Israeli genocides in Gaza does not shine a bright path for us.