US should wake up and pull back before it’s too late

By Zhong Sheng

What the current trade frictions have showcased to the world is China’s sense of responsibility and the unscrupulousness of the U.S. Such remark by Samy Kamhawy, a senior journalist from Egypt's largest daily newspaper Al-Ahram, is an accurate description of the current situation.

In recent years, some U.S. politicians who are blinded by the so-called “America First” and resorted to trade protectionism and unilateralism, have taken additional tariffs as a weapon in disregard of the strong opposition from the people of the two countries and people across the world.

These American politicians claim that the U.S. foreign trade deficit is a result of the “economic plundering” by other countries, and frequently ignited trade disputes.

They abused national power to suppress foreign enterprises, and even asked U.S. allies to join them, making ridiculous statement that the technological development of other countries hurts America. Moreover, these American politicians have arbitrarily challenged international trade rules, claiming that the US is “losing” in these rules.

Such unreasonable and willful practices of the U.S. not only impede other countries’ legitimate right to develop, but trample on international rules.

The world today is going through profound economic globalization and multi-polarization, where the interests and destinies of countries are closely intertwined.

By ignoring the trend of history and the opposing voices, the US is doing nothing but trying to be a judge, rather than a disciplined player in the game. In short, all Washington wants is to be the only winner of the game, rather than common development.

Therefore, the slogan of “Make America Great Again” has become a “just cause” for Uncle Sam to elevate the interests of the U.S. over the legitimate interests of other countries and the common interests of the international community. With “zero-sum game” mentality, the U.S. uses whatever that suits its interests, and abandon and even destroy whatever that does not.

Is justice still with the U.S. as it is acting in such an unreasonable and arbitrary manner?

The practices of the U.S. have also received broad condemnation and opposition domestically. 

Some politicians have drained the international community for private profits, and rapidly ruined the international order that took more than 70 years to establish, said Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution. They have broken the trust and sense of common mission that have been built to prevent possible international disorder, he added.

Recemtly, more than 170 footwear manufacturers and retailers including Adidas, Nike, and Puma jointly wrote a letter to the U.S. government, pointing out that the proposed additional tariff on imported footwear from China would be catastrophic for American consumers, companies, and economy as a whole.

  

Though the voices in the U.S. such as “Trade Works. Tariffs Don’t” are getting louder, the U.S. politicians are still acting arbitrarily and ignoring the hard time that American farmers are going through.

Such willful practices not only damage the international credibility and image of the U.S., but also destroy the international environment for cooperation.

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council warned U.S. government on Twitter that “Make trade, not war”.

The U.S. politicians should think over why so many European state leaders slapped America for the short-sighted ban on Huawei and said they would not follow.

There is a proverb in China that “a just cause enjoys abundant support while an unjust cause finds scant support”. The attempts to hinder the historical trend of economic globalization with trade protectionism are destined to find no support, and the unreasonable actions intended for hampering the trend of world multi-polarization are doomed to be in vain.

It’s pointed out by an article published on the website of Atlantic that Washington’s attempt to contain China might prove self-defeating.

More than 2,000 years ago, a Chinese litterateur named Huan Kuan in Han Dynasty noted that the one who acts in disregard of other people’s opinions is ill-informed, and the one who is self-opinionated would be isolated from others.

Listening to advices is a merit, and also wisdom. It’s better for the U.S. politicians to listen to the voices of American people from all walks of life, as well as the criticisms and warning from other countries, so that it can wake up and pull back before it’s too late. 

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)