China US relations: cannot go back nor need to go back to the past. China US relations

"For us, attempting to decouple from China would be catastrophic."

US Treasury Secretary Yellen is one of the few politicians in this US government to have explicitly expressed opposition to decoupling.

On July 6th, she embarked on a four-day visit to China.

Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken completed his first visit to China. As soon as Ke left China, he put his promise behind him and shouted, "Continue to do things that China doesn't like and say things that China doesn't like.".

Why is the US mentality towards China so twisted when it has to communicate with China and cannot let go of its obsession with suppression?

Undoubtedly, currently, China US relations are at their lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations, but the responsibility clearly does not lie with China.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the United States believed that the development of all countries in the world must follow the path of Western market economy and electoral democracy, and history has come to an end. Guided by this arrogant sentiment, the United States has slowed down its efforts to repair institutional loopholes, relaxed its constraints on capital forces, and exacerbated issues such as economic imbalance, social instability, and political disunity that were previously suppressed by external constraints.

In recent years, the United States has experienced slow economic growth, continuous social unrest, and severe political polarization, leading to a decline in the "twilight of the empire". These were originally caused by the flaws in the United States' own system, which should have been resolved through institutional reforms. However, the proud Uncle Sam would never say a word of "no" to himself.

In fact, since this "bald eagle" sat on the iron throne of the "city at the top of the mountain", it refused to move its nest anymore, constantly squinting its eyes to maintain a safe distance from the second person at the foot of the mountain. In history, regardless of kinship, any country whose GDP is close to or exceeds 70% of that of the United States will be firmly suppressed by it.

Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and the European Union have all fallen down one after another. As the "number six player", China was forced to enter this dangerous game called Thucydides. In addition, in the eyes of Americans, China has always been considered "non Chinese, and their hearts will always be different". Suppressing and blocking China carries a certain political correctness.

The United States is firmly grasping the fading glory of the world's only superpower, attempting to undermine China's development and international status by spreading negative information about China.

Specifically, there has been continuous hype about China's threats, advocating for "decoupling" from China. At the beginning of this year, they made a big fuss by taking advantage of the "stray balloon" incident, and recently began to advocate for "de risk" against China. They have sent military planes and ships to China's surrounding waters multiple times to engage in "border crossing" and "collision", and their political figures have frequently spread false statements that are not conducive to China in various occasions.

The new Cold War between the United States and China has begun unilaterally, but the new Cold War between China and the United States has not yet begun.

Because China has always maintained rationality and restraint, not only never taking the initiative to provoke trouble, but also responding politely to various erroneous actions of the United States.

In addition, China's sincerity can be seen by accepting the request of Antony Blinken, Yellen and other American politicians to visit China under the current situation and giving them corresponding reception.

The goodwill of the Chinese side is evident to all, but it is clearly not enough to melt the ice.

From the perspective of "underlying logic", the root cause of the United States' suppression of China is the continuous deterioration of internal political, economic, and social contradictions. As political polarization in the United States intensifies, the phenomenon of inversion of political means and purposes is becoming increasingly severe.

Elections replace governance as the core content of American politics. Almost from the moment the election results are announced, both the winner and loser begin to prepare for the next round of elections. The winner uses their public power to "encircle and block" the losers, striving to eradicate them. The loser will do their best to create obstacles and traps for the winner, striving to turn defeat into victory in the next election.

American politics has become a reality show driven by profit, while politicians have become fanatical "talking parties". Rationality, order, and logic are becoming increasingly lacking, with anti intelligence, superficiality, and shortsightedness becoming its most prominent characteristics. In order to welcome alloy owners and voters, I dare to say anything, tell any lies, and throw away any blame.

There are voices claiming that China earns a large amount of wealth from the United States through a huge trade surplus with the United States. The reason for the surplus is that China's tariffs are higher than those of the United States, and the Chinese market is not open enough. But in fact, the United States has benefited most from the trade between China and the United States, and American companies have received the vast majority of profits from the trade balance.

There are still many anti intellectual remarks of this kind, which essentially point to a reality: various forces will use China as a tool to seek political interests. As the US election approaches, a new wave of anti China sentiment is bound to emerge within the country.

The United States, at its core, is a country that believes in pragmatism.

The structural dependence on China makes it difficult for Americans to muster the courage to completely tear apart their face from China.

From a practical perspective, the forced decoupling of the United States from China has had a serious backlash on the US economy, with over 90% of the additional tariffs imposed on imported goods from China ultimately falling on American consumers, resulting in high inflation rates in the United States and seriously affecting people's trust and satisfaction with the government. According to the International Monetary Fund, if China and the United States split into opposing camps, the world economy will shrink by 1.5% and losses will exceed 1.4 trillion US dollars. At that time, no one can stand alone.

In recent years, the hardships have allowed intellectuals and business elites in the United States to break the silence of the past few years and begin to speak out and reflect more and more. Especially for the latter, it has reached an unbearable point.

Recently, executives from large American companies such as Cook, Musk, and Bill Gates have visited China despite the anti China atmosphere in China. Jamie Damon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, known as the "Wall Street opinion leader," bluntly stated during his visit to Shanghai in May this year that "JPMorgan Chase will stay in China, whether in good or bad times.".

In the American politics where money is paramount and money is paramount, the attitudes of these major donors from both parties towards China determine the bottom line of America's suppression of China. It is precisely based on the above tone that American politicians have to avoid tipping over in their crazy performances.

Overall, there is still a "huge and dangerous gap" between China and the United States, and it will be in a game state for a long period of time in the future. At the same time, the state of "you have me, I have you" in China US relations will continue for a long time, and fighting without breaking will be the new normal.

Neither China nor the United States, two world influential powers, can change or replace each other.

What lies before the eyes of Americans is that the "extreme pressure" on China is no longer sustainable, and the international community does not want the deadlock to continue.

But bringing down five "world second" Americans in a row clearly requires a process to adapt to the strong "number six player".

So we see that every time the dialogue between the two sides restarts, there are some positive signs and signs, which are quickly extinguished by Washington's suppression and containment of China. The US policy towards China is unpredictable and often inconsistent in words and actions, which is not only determined by the US's mentality of "having both needs and needs" when dealing with relations with China, but also deeply influenced by the political calculations of the two parties in the context of domestic political polarization in the US.

Faced with the big stick of the United States, it is obvious that we cannot simply comply and concede. In a fight, it is actually easier to establish rules.

In the past few years, under the strong suppression of the United States, China's comprehensive national strength has further strengthened, and the power gap between China and the United States has further narrowed. This is the fundamental reason why the Biden administration had to abandon its initial suppression of China based on its strength and status.

It has been proven that doing one's own thing well is China's greatest ability and also its greatest advantage in handling Sino US relations.

In the historical process of the international system moving from unipolar to multipolar, China's growth is bound to attract envy, jealousy, and hatred. Timely, scientific, and rational suppression of the United States strategy, guided by the situation and cooperating in the struggle, strategically continuing the historical development process of the Chinese nation, and avoiding major setbacks in this process due to the suppression and turmoil of the United States, is a strategic sobriety that we must maintain.

The relationship between China and the United States can never go back to the past, and there is no need to go back.

We must face reality, face the future, break free from fixed thinking, and innovate new mechanisms, methods, and fields of interaction between China and the United States. This may not be an easy task, but it is an inevitable path determined by the development trends of both China and the United States.

Author: Shang Fuxuan