Three questions Antony Blinken needs to bring back to the United States World | China and the United States | America

During the meeting, President Xi Jinping mentioned that the broad earth can fully accommodate the development and common prosperity of China and the United States.

The location of the meeting echoes the profound meaning of this statement. The meeting was held in the Fujian Hall of the Great Hall of the People. In 1971, when former US Secretary of State Kissinger visited China secretly, the Chinese leaders met him here, and the Fujian Hall witnessed the historical moment of Sino-US relations.

In the more than 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, China and the United States have been looking for ways to get along. Today, Sino-US relations are at a key point and need to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict.

The first visit to China by cabinet officials of the Biden administration has ended, but for the United States, understanding China's concerns and positions and translating them into action has just begun.

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Previously, the United States said that it would cooperate while sanctioning Chinese companies; while saying that it would not seek to strengthen the alliance against China, it pulled up the high wall of the small courtyard and tossed it for more than half a year and found that it had little effect.

In the second half of the year, the biggest problem facing the United States is that it is no longer feasible to say one thing and do another. How to find a new working path with China is crucial.

During Blinken's visit to China, the Chinese side made a clear judgment on the current Sino-US relations: Sino-US relations are at their lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations. It is precisely the wrong perception of China in the United States that has led to this situation.

Cognition determines thinking, thinking determines behavior, and behavior determines results.

The result of the wrong perception of China by the United States is to define China as "the most serious competitor". To put it bluntly, it is a threat.

When meeting with Blinken, President Xi Jinping clearly emphasized:

The Chinese people, like the American people, are both self respecting, confident, and have the right to pursue a better life. The common interests between the two countries should be valued, and their respective successes are opportunities rather than threats to each other.

Not treating China as a threat is the first red line that China has drawn for the United States in handling relations with China in the second half of the year.

This is not an easy task for the United States. Previously, when interacting with major powers, the United States has always followed a simple and crude logic: a strong country must hegemony, so once the level of strength exceeds the psychological limit of the United States, it must be suppressed.

In the cognitive logic of the United States, there are only two kinds of countries in the world, one is a friend and the other is an enemy.

At that time, Japan, which had the momentum of catching up with the economy, changed its previous attitude towards Japan and forced it to sign an "unequal treaty", while hindering the export of Japan's high-end manufacturing products through "301 investigation" and tariff punishment; while framed Toshiba, destroyed Japan's high-tech pillar of large enterprises.

In Europe, from the war in Kosovo to the current crisis in Ukraine, the United States has repeatedly stirred up trouble and reap profits, while the United States has shown no mercy in its long-term suppression of the euro and the strangulation of high-tech enterprises such as Alstom of France.

The United States has accumulated a lot of experience in suppressing opponents in these countries, which in turn makes the United States more aware that suppressing opponents is the most effective way to maintain its status.

However, a person's strengths can also become weaknesses-the stronger they are, the stronger they will be, and other factors will be ignored.

Excessive belief in the so-called "status of strength" has caused the United States to look at other countries as either "obedient" allies or enemies who threaten itself. It is impossible to imagine a third way.

So, seeing China, the United States is even more nervous.

Yang Jiemian, a well-known international relations scholar, talked to Tan about the reasons, "It is difficult for the United States to accept the success of a different faith, political philosophy, and social system. Moreover, China's success provides a reference and choice for countries that want to maintain independence. This is something that has not been seen before."

The United States has been mirroring China with the template that a strong country must dominate, misjudging China with the trajectory of the traditional Western powers. Experience does not equal truth. The Chinese understood thousands of years ago that those who convince others with strength are not convinced or able to support them. The Chinese nation has suffered so much suffering and suppression, has it defeated us?

If the United States really wants to communicate with China, it must find the right way to get along with each other. This is the bottom line, not the condition.

Unlike America's blind conceit, China's perception of relationships is richer.

President Xi Jinping mentioned a sentence that Blinken should really take to heart: competition among great powers is not in line with the trend of the times, let alone solve the problems of the United States itself and the challenges facing the world.

What is the trend of the times? British scholar Martin Jacques once talked with Lord Tan about the special circumstances of the times we live in today:

Whereas most of the world was colonized in the last century, with the exception of a few imperialist countries, where other countries had little say, today the West accounts for about 13 to 14 per cent of the global population, and the developing world for about 85 per cent of the world's population, and they are now increasingly able to act on their own behalf and think for themselves-our era is being defined by the rise of the developing countries. For the first time, the world has the possibility of establishing a global order by a majority.

Under the global order in which most countries participate together, major powers should be part of equal construction, rather than moving towards confrontation and game, bringing disaster to the world.

The world is developing and the times are changing. China is also different from any country the United States has ever suppressed.

The United States should also pay attention to such changes. Now Sino-US relations have reached the "lowest point", but if the United States continues to use suppression and threats to target China, Sino-US relations may continue to spiral downward, which will be unbearable for China, the United States and the world.

The United States should take the time to adjust and find the correct position for China.

With the correct understanding of China and the position of China, the next thing the United States should do is to have the correct action against China.

On this point, President Xi Jinping pointed out during the meeting that the United States should also respect China and not harm China's legitimate rights and interests. Neither party can shape the other party according to its own wishes, let alone deprive the other party of its legitimate development rights.

This is the second red line that China has drawn for the United States to work with China in the second half of the year.

Realizing its so-called "development" by depriving the other party of its legitimate development rights is the development path formed by the United States in the past 200 years.

After the global financial crisis, the United States, whose economy has been hit hard, was stimulated by two data: in 2010, China surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy, and at the same time replaced the United States to become the world's largest manufacturing country.

The United States has a pair of eyes on China.

In 2013, when President Xi Jinping visited the United States for the first time after assuming the presidency, he made this statement about Sino-US relations: The vast Pacific Ocean has enough space to accommodate the two major powers of China and the United States.

However, the United States looks from its east and west coasts, while proposing "Asia-Pacific rebalancing" while provoking conflicts between Russia and European countries.

At almost the same time, China's "the belt and road initiative" initiative was officially put forward. And the United States is indifferent to this new proposal proposed by China.

From 2015 to 2016, the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue mentioned more than 100 potential areas of cooperation, and did not mention the "Belt and Road.

When the United States ignored it, "the belt and road initiative" quickly found an enthusiastic partner.

Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and other countries have all connected their national development strategies with the "Belt and Road.

Unlike the United States, they understand China's plan and are creating increments for the world.

In 2015, China once again invited the United States to join the AIIB, but this time, the United States not only refused, but also tried to oppose its allies to join. At the same time, it was accelerating the promotion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the attempt to exclude China from the Asia-Pacific free trade circle. Brewing in the dark.

At the moment when the blade was outward, the United States' misjudgment of China began to be unacceptable.

after the last us administration took office, the united states completely turned to confrontation with china.

Trump launched a trade war with China, and by May 2020, before the impact of the epidemic surfaced, the U.S. manufacturing PMI had fallen to its lowest point since the financial crisis.

By the time of the Biden administration, "revitalizing" the United States is no longer "adding" to itself, but "subtracting" from the world, containing China, and at the same time compressing the living space of others.

Recently, the Biden administration began to mention the concept of "de-risk", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Yang Tao in the briefing asked, the U.S. side said "de-risk", we first need to figure out is, what is the risk? Where does the risk come from? China is injecting stability, certainty and positive energy into the world, how can it become a risk?

No matter how it is packaged, the essence of the US side's "de risk" or "decoupling and breaking the chain" is "de Sinicization". Ultimately, it is to remove opportunities, cooperation, stability and development. It will not only solve the problems of the United States itself, but also hurt itself and drag down the world.

At the same time, the Biden administration has also united allies to launch a variety of global infrastructure plans to counter China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen followed China's footsteps and traveled all over Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. While framed China's project as a "debt trap", they wrote their own empty promises.

But in 2022, Qin Gang, who is still the Chinese ambassador to the United States, expressed this meaning that these regions should become a big stage for international cooperation, not a arena for competition among major powers. Looking at the world, not so.

In a word, it shows the difference in the dimensions of thinking between China and the United States. It is also such a difference that makes the United States puzzled. What is the problem with China.

Zheng Yongnian, a scholar on international issues, summed up the U.S. mentality toward China as a "sense of collective fear".

The sense of collective fear erodes America's patience, but it takes time to create incremental. The current showdown can only allow the United States to fall into self-consumption in the short-term stock game.

But China is patient.

This year is the 10th year of the "the belt and road initiative" initiative and the 8th year of the establishment of the AIIB.

Now, the AIIB has become a multilateral development institution second only to the World Bank in size, with 56% of its financing being climate finance.

Not long ago, the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement came into full effect. At the same time, China also submitted an exchange document for China's accession to the comprehensive and progressive trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, and its predecessor was the TPP led by the United States. As long as the rules are fair, China will seize the opportunity of connection and development.

Friends are all over the world because the Chinese view their relationship with the development of other countries, not linear, but overall.

The abyss are deep and the fish live, the mountains are deep and the beasts go.

When the overall incremental space is dug deep and expanded, the relationship between countries has the possibility of surpassing "you win and I lose.

President Xi Jinping's change from "the Pacific Ocean is large enough to accommodate the development of China and the United States" to "the earth is large enough to accommodate the respective and common development of China and the United States" is also the embodiment of "adding" and surpassing the zero-sum game.

The United States wants to develop, but it cannot deprive other countries of their right to development. This is the second bottom line to stop the decline in Sino-US relations.

The United States revolves in the "dead knot" of logic, like an ant on a two-dimensional plane.

This "dead knot", how to tear down?

When Yang Jiemian communicated with Tan, he summarized the crux of the United States as "narcissistic view of history":

The status of the United States today did not fall from the sky either. There is a reason for its success. However, the United States did not think of or could not see clearly that the future of mankind and the international community will always be wavy, with its rise and fall, and it has made progress between constantly breaking the balance and imbalance. The United States has always advertised that everything they have is the best, and it is always the best. This is ridiculous. How can there be an absolute thing in the world?

The history of the founding of the United States is very short, only 247 years. In just over two centuries, the United States has seized many opportunities to take the lead in the world today.

But it also gives the United States a short-sighted misconception that it can always keep ahead.

After five thousand years of chaos and the rise and fall, no country can discover from the twists and turns of history what is the real existence that has passed through the times and lasted for a long time.

Civilization and history are the greatest strength of the Chinese nation.

Not long ago, President Xi Jinping said at the symposium on cultural inheritance and development that the Chinese civilization has outstanding unity, which fundamentally determines the integration of the cultures of all ethnic groups of the Chinese nation, and is firmly united even if it encounters major setbacks. The common belief that the land is inseparable, the country cannot be disordered, the nation cannot be dispersed, and the civilization cannot be broken determines that national unity will always be the core of China's core interests, it is decided that a strong and unified country is the fate of the people of all ethnic groups.

The Taiwan issue has always been an issue that China and the United States must discuss, and it is also the issue that spends the most time.

On the evening of Blinken's visit to China, Yang Tao, Director of the Department of American Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, briefed Chinese and foreign media on US Secretary of State Blinken's visit to China. At the briefing, Yang Tao said that the US side still has a trend to link the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue with the "one China policy" as the core content of the "one China policy.

The reason for emphasizing this trend is that, in the eyes of some Americans, the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue is to "peacefully split" Taiwan ".

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The question of Taiwan is China's internal affair, which brooks no external interference. Behind the "Taiwan card" played by the United States is the idea of trying to change China's system and road, which is even a challenge to Chinese civilization.

The Taiwan issue, which arose out of national weakness and chaos, will be resolved with national rejuvenation. China's development and practice have fully proved that China has taken its own path, and it has gone right, passed, walked steadily, and walked well. China's path and system will provide the most solid guarantee for the settlement of the Taiwan issue.

In his exchange with Lord Tan, Yang Jiemian mentioned that the United States has a sense of superiority of "destiny theory" and believes that there should be only one way in the world, and all countries should develop in accordance with the American model.

However, the United States cannot change China. Previously, in many communications with President Xi Jinping, President Biden made promises that the United States will not seek to fight a "new cold war", will not seek to change the Chinese system, and will not seek to oppose China by strengthening alliances. Do not support "Taiwan independence" and have no intention of conflict with China.

When President Xi Jinping met with Blincoln, Blincoln also said again that the United States abides by the commitments made by President Biden.

listen to his words and watch his deeds. America, do what you say.

When Blinken returns, there are two details that should always be remembered:

In the hall where President Xi Jinping met with Blinken, a row of summer lotus flowers was placed in the center of the round table. The pronunciation of "Holland" and "harmony" is the same, and peace and harmony should have been the proper meaning of the exchanges between the two peoples.

Behind President Xi Jinping is a large painting of Wuyi Mountain, which faces the turbulent Taiwan Strait.

The general trend of history is unstoppable and unstoppable.

In any case, Blinken's visit to China is a new beginning for Sino-US relations.

How to seize this opportunity, perhaps Blinken should think carefully about China's words. Let this trip not come in vain, is the second half of the U.S. government to focus on thinking.