Highlighting the increasing anxiety about US hegemony, Chinese online reviews continue to spread rumors of the "China threat theory" | China | China.com

After spreading rumors of "China's investment in global ports as a threat" and "Chinese hackers," American media has recently hyped up the so-called "Chinese malware intrusion" issue. On July 29th, The New York Times reported, citing "anonymous officials," that the Biden administration believed that China had "implanted malicious software" in key US power and communication networks. Once a "conflict" occurred, it would interfere with US military operations by cutting off US power and communication. The US continues to spread the "China threat theory" due to its strategic impulse to contain China, highlighting its increasingly serious hegemonic anxiety.

The United States hypes up rumors about China with the intention of obstructing China's industrial upgrading

In recent years, a considerable portion of various rumors spread by the United States have directly targeted Chinese companies, such as "China's 5G infrastructure spreads viruses", "Chinese software illegally collects personal information", and "Chinese companies acquire farms with the intention of stealing military intelligence". The United States disregards basic facts and logic, fabricates sensational lies, and is nothing more than an attempt to use its discourse hegemony to worsen the overseas business environment of Chinese enterprises, especially to crack down on high-tech enterprises and obstruct China's economic transformation and upgrading.

In recent years, China has attached great importance to the driving effect of scientific research on the economy, and innovative achievements have emerged continuously. According to a report released by the World Economic Forum in December 2022, China accounted for 39.6% of the 1.7 million patents approved globally in 2021. The World Intellectual Property Indicators released by the World Intellectual Property Organization also show that in 2021, innovators around the world submitted 3.4 million patent applications, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. Among them, China's patent application volume increased by 5.5% year-on-year, ranking first in the world for the first time. At the same time, in terms of the number of valid patents, China surpassed the United States with 3.6 million, ranking first in the world. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a US think tank, also released a report stating that China's innovation and advanced industry capabilities have increased to 139% of the United States in comparable absolute terms. China's technological progress has made the United States, accustomed to being a global hegemon, feel like a needle in a needle. Some politicians do not think about how to enhance their own technological strength and share innovative achievements with the world. Instead, they are paranoid in creating and spreading rumors about China, and use their power to impose a technological blockade on China.

Four years ago, in order to successfully add Huawei to the "physical list", the United States did its utmost to smear and spread rumors about it. Not only did it illegally detain Huawei's then Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on the grounds of "violating US sanctions and engaging in transactions with Iran", but it also repeatedly accused Huawei of "leaving a backdoor" and "transferring data from American users to the Chinese government.". Nowadays, it seems that the United States is actually targeting Huawei with the intention of "Xiang Zhuang wielding his sword, aiming for Pei Gong", and its targets are far more than just one or two Chinese technology companies. After blacklisting Huawei, the United States has continuously expanded the breadth and depth of its technology embargo, and now intends to implement a comprehensive ban on chip sales to China, completely locking in the future of China's technological progress.

However, from the multiple joint petitions and negotiations between American chip giants and the government, it can be seen that the US government's "anti China strategy" of first smearing and then suppressing China may actually become a noose around the neck of American companies, which can be said to be lifting a stone and hitting their own feet.

The United States hypes up rumors about China with the intention of promoting so-called "de risk-taking"

There are also many rumors against the Chinese government in the United States, whether it is the "debt trap theory" that has been hyped up for many years, or the recent so-called "China's investment in global port threats", all of which belong to this category. They all aimed at the major projects of China's "the Belt and Road" initiative and the strategic alignment of other countries, and tried to undermine their cooperation with China by spreading rumors, confusing the public of cooperative countries, inciting their discontent, and then putting pressure on their governments.

In fact, over the past decade, China and other countries around the world have jointly built the "the Belt and Road", which has played an important role in promoting global connectivity and world economic growth. As of January 2023, China has signed over 200 cooperation documents with 151 countries and 32 international organizations, covering areas such as connectivity, trade, investment, finance, society, ocean, e-commerce, technology, people's livelihood, and humanities. Over the past decade, thanks to the joint efforts of all parties, the interconnection framework of "six corridors, six roads, many countries and many ports" has been basically formed, and a large number of mutually beneficial and win-win projects have been successfully implemented: the China Laos Railway has been opened and operated along the whole line, and passenger and freight traffic has grown steadily; The Beno section of the Hungary Serbia Railway has been successfully opened to traffic within Serbia; The longest tunnel of the Yawan high-speed railway has achieved full tunnel connectivity; Djibouti Port Railway Station is officially put into operation; Gwadar Port has become a regional logistics hub and a port industry base; The China Europe freight train continues to operate safely and stably, with over a thousand trains running in a single month for 27 consecutive months. The World Bank estimates that by 2030, the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" will generate US $1.6 trillion in revenue for the world every year, accounting for 1.3% of global GDP. From 2015 to 2030, 7.6 million people will be lifted out of absolute poverty and 32 million people will be lifted out of moderate poverty as a result.

Therefore, countries participating in the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" often praise the cooperation with China, but the United States and some western countries are "worried" and "suspicious". I'm afraid the reason is that the concerted cooperation between China and the vast number of countries along the "the Belt and Road" has not only strengthened their economic, trade and investment ties, but also enhanced their cultural and civilization exchanges, objectively expanding the global influence of China and Chinese culture, which makes the United States, still sleeping in the dream of hegemony, unwilling to wake up, uneasy. The US is willing to use rumors to smear China's international image, poison China's cooperation with third parties, and then cut off the connection between China and its partners under the pretext of "risk reduction".

However, over the years, the US has repeatedly spread and hyped up rumors, which have not gained widespread recognition in the international community, except for some agreement in some Western countries. In particular, the parties involved have expressed frustration with the US's manipulation. Not long ago, in the face of smearing remarks from the United States and the West, Kenyan officials criticized their reports as "political propaganda" and a "carefully planned attack" on Kenyan sovereignty.

As American economist Jeffrey Sachs said, the world does not require any hegemony, and the United States should abandon the idea of "leading the world.". Under the century long upheaval, the global multipolar pattern is accelerating, and the old world where the United States dominated the world and either prospered or perished is gradually fading away. The only way for the US to truly reduce risks and move towards prosperity is to implement a series of commitments to control differences and maintain proper relations with China, and shift more energy back to the various contradictions that urgently need to be resolved domestically. Only then can it truly cure its own anxiety disorder.