Washington’s self-righteousness will lead to nothing but failure
By Zhong Sheng
There is an old saying
in China that “a wise man can be ruined by his own wisdom.” This proverb is perfect
to describe some politicians in the US who think they are always
right and clever.
In the early days of the trade
war,
some US politicians claimed that “trade wars are good and easy to win,” and
believed that they could force others into making concessions through exerting extreme
pressure.
The
US politicians took backtracking as the “art of trade”, and abused state power
to smear and suppress foreign enterprises. They also made up the accusation
against China of stealing intellectual property rights and renewed the
controversial "clash of civilizations" idea.
The world has seen through the
tricks some American politicians have played. The so-called “victory” over
trade war is self-deception and creates negative impact for the world.
The US politicians have
set a bad example to the world by making people become more aware of
the stubbornness of Washington, more determined to focus on their own affairs
and more motivated to create a better future with strong willpower and growing
strength.
Washington’s
self-righteousness is nothing more than an attempt to gain more benefits
through playing tricks. However, it has neglected the fact that the trade war
it provoked with the world could backfire itself.
Research from the International
Monetary Fund reveals that US importers “almost entirely” bear the cost of
tariffs, which are then passed on to the consumers.
Washington’s assault on Huawei
has led to a blow that battered US technology shares. The stocks of multiple
American firms fell sharply as a consequence of “the cold war in technology”
argument hyped up by some US politicians.
Some narrow-minded US politicians
honor hegemony rather than rules, and worship interests instead of ideals,
believing that coerce and exert extreme pressure on China will come to a “good
end” for them.
The US government frequently
adopts national security reviews in the trade battlefields worldwide, said
Bloomberg, pointing out that this practice will lead to a bad precedent and the
US will inevitably hurt itself.
This is indeed the case. The US
has repeatedly challenged the current multilateral international order and
become the biggest destroyer and the most unstable factor in the current
international system.
People of insight from all over
the world have appealed for justice, sternly criticizing Washington for a
series of conducts that go against the trend of the time. The arrogant and
unconstrained hegemonic behaviors of the US earn little support and will only
be answered with stronger counter-measures.
American mathematician John Tukey
said that if everyone wants to maximize their own interests, they will end up
with a lose-lose situation. What lies behind Washington’s self-righteousness is
nothing but zero-sum game mentality.
However, the US has
underestimated the ability and determination of other countries to protect
their core interests.
A number of countries have taken
counter-measures against the US for provoking trade disputes and prosecuted the
latter at the World Trade Organization. The US has miscalculated thinking that
it could intimidate China by imposing tariffs on Chinese products worth
hundreds of billions of US dollars.
In a world where countries are
interdependent on each other, it is extremely stupid for the US to believe that
a trade war is “easy to win” and its opponents are “easy to lose”.
Washington has underestimated the
wisdom, strategies and willpower of its opponents, which will only lead to the
escalation of chaos and crises, said the German newspaper Der Spiegel.
History has told us that true
wisdom comes from win-win cooperation, and there is no future for
self-righteousness and a beggar-thy-neighbor approach.
When the interests of all
countries are closely intertwined and the fate is closely related, cooperation
is much needed for mankind to cope with risks and challenges, Jeffrey Sachs, an
economics professor at Columbia University, said in his book A New Foreign
Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism.
The US government, which acts
willfully by adopting the “America First” strategy, and intentionally
sabotaging international rules, has exposed its obsession with American
exceptionalism.
Such toxic concept and practices
are not only harmful to the US, but also very dangerous to the world.
Cooperation leads to win-win
results while confrontation leads to lose-lose situations. For China and the US,
cooperation is the only right choice. If the politicians of the US cannot see
the historical trend and remain addicted to self-righteousness, their tricks
such as provoking confrontations, intimidating and pressuring, and escalating
conflicts, will lead nowhere.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name used
by People's Daily to express views on foreign policy.)
Washington’s self-righteousness will lead to nothing but failure
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