'China threat' theory reflects narrow-minded mentality

The Western countries have been busy depicting China as a “threat” this year, with changing rhetoric.

On Jan. 19, the U.S. Department of Defense published a summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS), which labels China as a “revisionist country” that poses security challenges to the United States.

In line with the NDS report, the U.S. media and think tanks expressed fear that their government is losing its dominance in Asia to China.

In addition to imposing protective tariffs on Chinese products, such as washing machines, solar batteries, and battery panels, the U.S. government also stated clearly that it will take action against China for the latter’s “intellectual property theft”.

And it is not just the United States. Germany has initiated EU legislation with France and Italy to strengthen monitoring of foreign direct investments into the European Union. The draft law is widely regarded as targeting China.

Matthias Machnig, State Secretary at the Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energ, reportedly said that it was urgent to police surging Chinese investment.

But their accusations and decisions against China are not accepted in their own country. The protective tariffs on Chinese solar batteries and battery panels are expected to shut the door on billions of dollars in investments in the United States, resulting in thousands of lost job opportunities.

Likewise, the European countries’ claim of “surging Chinese investment” is also a rejection of win-win cooperation and results. Previous acquisitions were often the result of European enterprises trapped in difficulty, which were in the end aided by the Chinese investment and the market advantages of the Chinese firms.

What should be a win-win situation has turned out to be otherwise. What happened to the confidence of the Western countries?

Times have changed. The world is undergoing a major transformation, and the international order is becoming fairer, more orderly, more balanced, and more inclusive.

However, this positive change has made the countries that place themselves above all others worried and anxious, fearing that they may lose their dominant positions in global affairs and their leading roles in technology to other countries such as China.

Behind their behavior is zero-sum mentality.

In sharp contrast to this, the world feels the warmth of the China-proposed concept of “building a community of shared future for mankind.” Just recently, for example, The New York Times reported that the real star at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, may have been China.

China’s influence was clearly felt during the forum, and its proposal of jointly building a community with shared future was also echoed by the world.

China is not an advocator of isolationism, but a supporter of cooperation. Twisting this beautiful vision into a threat reflects the narrow-minded mentality of some countries.