New admin
will continue leading the US on the wrong path: Global Times editorial
By Global
Times Published: Mar 04, 2021
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1217376.shtml
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered his first foreign policy
speech on Wednesday, in which he put forward the eight most urgent foreign policy
priorities. Although he talked about confronting China in the last part of his
speech, in this way he was actually emphasizing this point. Blinken claimed
that China is the US' "biggest geopolitical test" of the century. He called China "the only country with the
economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to seriously challenge
the stable and open international system."
Also on Wednesday, the US released the
"Interim National Security Strategic Guidance," describing China in
the same tone as Blinken. But neither Blinken's speech nor the interim guidance
report has outlined specific policies toward China. Blinken ambiguously said,
"Our relationship with China will be competitive when it should be,
collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be."
It can be seen that whatever terms the Biden
administration has used to define China, it has inherited the Trump
administration's thinking on its China policy. But the new administration will
not resort to every possible means to deal with China. What the new
administration differs from its predecessor is that it has expressed
willingness to conditionally collaborate with China and has in public delivered
its reluctance to engage in an all-out confrontation with China.
The Trump administration was extremely
self-confident and arrogant, and its way to interact with China was to
blackmail China without any bottom line. The Biden administration has
apparently perceived that the Trump way didn't work out well. They are going to
try to engage in a systemic game with China, including relying more on allies
to strengthen an international siege of China.
Such manner toward China actually releases three
messages. First, after the presidential transition, Washington has completed
its domestic mobilization to reset China-US relations. Their position seeing
China as a "strategic rival" has been consolidated. Second, the Biden
administration has realized that it is not realistic to defeat China. The US
needs an approach to deal with China, in which the US can maintain its
advantage over China in the long run. Third, the current government underlines
more on building US power, including solidifying its alliance system.
The room for China to relieve its tensions with
the US through talks appears to be very narrow, but the possibility of
conflicts between the two countries has also declined. China and the US will
get involved in a long-term game in which pressure will be piled on all
domains. The one who will make more achievement in terms of strength building
will stand in a relatively proactive position to influence the future trend of
the bilateral ties.
The Biden administration has adjusted its
predecessor's unmannerly attempts trying to crush China and has reconstructed
it's tactic of putting pressure on China. This has resulted from China's efforts
of withstanding the pressure of the US-launched trade war and boosting its own
might. China should devote itself to defining the new round between China and
the US by continuing to realize China's expansion in terms of national
strengths and frustrating Washington's plan to solidify its allies to counter
China.
Despite the new US administration's grand
ambitions and big talks, it is not sure about achieving such goals. The
mechanism that drives US economic development is outdated and it is difficult
to generate any positive energy now. US allies have divergences with Washington
over China. The US lacks reasons to demand its allies to counter China with the
same strength as it does.
China should continue its reform and opening-up
efforts, and push forward its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) as scheduled. China
should work with the US to ease tensions while holding an easy mind in the
face of serious disputes. By doing so, China will have a strategically relaxed
mind-set and more room to interact. It is easier for China to paralyze the US'
China's containment strategy than for the US to go against the trend and advance
such a strategy.
It is high time that the Chinese people focus on
doing their own things well. China's two sessions have begun, an annual
occasion when China elaborates its development plans. The US is thinking of how
to contain China, while China is thinking of how to develop itself. It is
crystal clear who's design is healthier and can be better implemented.
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