Xinhua News Review: Behind "Risk Reduction" is American Hegemony Anxiety - Beware of the Language Traps of "Risk Reduction" - Part Three of the Review Series Thinking | United States | Risk

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 18 (Xinhua) - Behind "risk reduction" lies the anxiety of American hegemony - the third series of comments on the rhetoric trap of "risk reduction"

Xinhua News Agency reporter Xie Binbin

Whether it's "decoupling" or "removing risks", it ultimately reflects the anxious and indecisive mentality of the US side, which is restless and difficult to deal with. Faced with China's rapid development, the United States' hegemonic anxiety has become increasingly severe, and it is doing everything possible to contain and suppress China. At present, what the United States needs to do is not to weave rhetoric traps and build a so-called alliance of "de Sinicization", but to break free from the Cold War mentality and obsession with hegemony, correct the mentality of mutual respect and equal exchanges with other countries, follow the trend of peaceful development of the times, and walk the path of cooperation and win-win. Otherwise, "de risk" will only lead to a more difficult situation for itself in the end.

This is a photo of the White House taken on January 20th in the US capital, Washington. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie

The so-called "de risk" towards China is simply removing the "risk" that threatens US hegemony. The United States has deep-rooted discrimination and prejudice against China, and harbors prejudice and caution towards China's development. The United States has always viewed China with ideological prejudice and a Cold War mentality of binary opposition. From the "Asia Pacific Rebalance" to the "Indo Pacific Strategy", from trade wars to industrial and technological wars, from the "three point theory" of "competition, cooperation and confrontation" to the "three point theory" of "investment, alliance, and competition"... In recent years, the United States has shaped China into a "hypothetical enemy" that challenges its hegemony, making containment and suppression of China the top priority, and the policy mainline of containing China has never changed. When Cold War thinking fills the mind, every move the United States takes towards China is full of hostility and risk. "Spy balloons," "spy refrigerators," "spy cranes," and "spy farmland"... These absurd remarks and reckless actions all reflect the distorted and narrow-minded mentality of the United States in containing and suppressing China. Stephen Perry, the chairman of 48 British club groups, pointed out that for the United States, it seems easier to explain China's rapid development by "demonizing" China than facing reality and fair competition.

The United States regards China as a threat and is using its own judgment to impose the template of "a strong country will inevitably dominate" on China, committing a strategic cognitive mistake. After the end of the Cold War, the United States dominated the world and embarked on a "hegemonic bullying" model of bullying the weak and seizing power. With its advantages in military, economic, technological and other fields, the United States instigates wars and creates confrontations, using force to overthrow foreign regimes; Adhering to the exception of the United States, disregarding international law and rules, and seriously undermining the international order; Manipulating the international financial system and harvesting global wealth; Implementing long arm jurisdiction recklessly and stirring up trade disputes everywhere; Manipulate international public opinion and forcefully export American values. Compared with what the United States has done, it is not difficult to understand why the United States would compare the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative with the Marshall Plan with obvious ideological and geopolitical color, which would discredit the "national security risks" brought by Chinese telecommunications enterprises to all countries... The so-called "risks" imagined by the United States are the projection of its own bad deeds, and these "presumption of guilt" pieces have traces to follow in the United States itself. However, the United States has misjudged China's development goals. China's goal is to live a better life for its people and make greater contributions to the world, rather than challenging or replacing anyone. China adheres to the path of peaceful development and mutual benefit, bringing opportunities rather than crises, cooperation rather than confrontation, stability rather than turbulence, and insurance rather than risks to the world.

On February 19th, in Washington, D.C., a protester held up a sign and attended a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie

Viewing China as a "risk" stems from the decline in its own competitiveness and the panic over the end of hegemony. The United States has long been immersed in the "end of history" and obsessed with the "one superpower", unaware that the world situation has undergone profound changes. According to an article published on the website of Al Jazeera Qatari, analyst Marwan Besala, the political and economic decline of the United States over the past 20 years has damaged its global influence and credibility, and signs of the collapse of the US led world order have become increasingly apparent. In recent years, developing countries have emerged as a group, bravely saying no to hegemonic actions. More and more countries are discussing "de dollarization", refusing to "take sides" under pressure from the United States, no longer buying into the "universal values" that the United States sells, and even many American allies are no longer blindly following the will of the United States. Like the vast majority of members of the international community, China advocates opposing hegemonism and power politics, and promoting the development of the international order towards a more just and reasonable direction. What scares the United States is that as China's international influence continues to increase and this power continues to grow, hegemonic rules and orders will no longer be feasible, and the days when the United States turns its hands into clouds and covers them with rain will no longer exist. Former Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Commission, Graham Fuller, wrote that the United States has always been obsessed with maintaining its status as the "world's only superpower" and is willing to do everything to prevent China's influence in the world in order to prove that it can still command the world.

If the evil in the heart is not eliminated, it will inevitably be backfired. "Removing risks" towards China cannot dispel the demons of the United States and alleviate its hegemonic anxiety. 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.". I advise the United States to step out of the dark room and see the sunshine, open its eyes and see the world situation clearly, let go of its obsession with self superiority, give up containment and suppression of China, uphold a mentality of mutual respect and cooperation for mutual benefit, and join the trend of peace and development. This is the true way to reduce risks and move towards prosperity.