US should never sacrifice righteousness for benefits

There are no grounds for “American exceptionalism”. The US has always been living in coexistence with the world, just like any other country. The US should never sacrifice righteousness for benefits. Only by taking the road of mutual respect, mutual benefit, mutual promotion and common development can a country secure sustainable development.

Some US politicians have been obsessed with the "America first" belief and indulged themselves in seizing all the benefits and leaving nothing at all for other countries.

With a total disregard for international rules, they have beaten the drum for US-China economic "decoupling" and "tech cold war" and gone out of their ways to suppress some Chinese enterprises in a haughty and arrogant manner.

The truth is bullying others will definitely cause harm to themselves and conducting evil deeds will inevitably lead to disasters.

Some US officials' unethical, selfish and high-handed political manipulations are essentially dangerous for both themselves and others.

The US has established itself as the world's economic and technological giant during the process of its long-term dominance in economic globalization.

By taking advantage of its dominant position in formulating global economic and trade rules after World War II, the US has snatched the greatest benefits from economic globalization.

As the biggest beneficiary of globalization, it has become more dependent on and more in need of the world market and other countries.

Economic and sci-tech edges haven't empowered the US to keep a stranglehold on other countries, but required it to assume more responsibility for upholding international economic and trade rules.

The superiority of the US not only comes from its wealth and strength, but from the legitimacy brought about by its domestic governance, supply of global public goods, and the ability and willingness to organize and coordinate global crisis responses, according to the Foreign Affairs, an American magazine of international relations and US foreign policy.

Some American politicians have taken it for granted that they could turn economic and sci-tech edges into "exorbitant privileges", which shows their absolute ignorance of history and reality as well as their blind pride in their own strength.

There are actually no grounds for "American exceptionalism" as the US has always sought to live in coexistence with the world, just like any other country.

When a financial crisis originated in the US and spread across the world in 2008, China has adopted a series of positive policies and measures and made important contributions to helping the world economy climb out of recession.

China's policies have helped stabilize the global financial system, which is very important for the world economy as a whole, noted Timothy Franz Geithner, former US Secretary of the Treasury, in March 2009.

Although times and circumstances may change, the economic advantage of the US and the financial status of Wall Street are still closely related to the world.

Anyone with breadth of vision could see that by wantonly bullying and suppressing other countries and challenging the international rules, some US officials have actually hurt their own interests, which runs counter to their pursuit of "America first".

The sharp depreciation of the US dollar recently is a convincing evidence. Real concerns around the longevity of the US dollar as a reserve currency have started to emerge, wrote the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in a report in July.

If the coming decades bring what many have already called the "Chinese century", the dollar may well fade as the yuan (also known as the renminbi) rises, according to Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University.

He added that weaponization of the dollar via trade, financial, and technology sanctions could hasten the transition.

Just like the financial status of Wall Street can't live without the world, the role of Silicon Valley as a technological innovation hub has not been solely sustained by the US

"The United States' strongest tech companies rely on a global scale of sales and operations to stay ahead of foreign rivals. For example, semiconductors, ultra-clean diesel engines, and consumer electronics all demand high levels of R&D spending, and Intel, Cummins, and Apple's global leadership would collapse if it could not produce and sell in China," according to an article published on Harvard Business Review, a general management magazine in the US.

American digital giants are now copying the success stories of their Chinese competitors, said an article published on French newspaper Le Figaro.

Some American politicians should really open their eyes and start to see what the world is like.

China is the world's second largest economy and a major country in terms of technological innovation.

Unlike the US, China has never acted as if it ruled the world. Instead, it has remained humble, tolerant and open-minded, actively promoting the construction of an open world economy and carrying out international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation.

China has become the biggest trading partner for more than 130 countries and regions around the world, established sci-tech cooperation with 160 countries and regions, signed 114 intergovernmental cooperation agreements in the field, and participated in more than 200 international scientific and technological organizations and multilateral technology mechanisms.

Whether it is economic development or technological innovation, China has embarked upon a journey featuring openness and cooperation.

"It's always useful to recognize China as it is, as opposed to how we might want it to be," said Robert Zoellick, former US Deputy Secretary of State.

Spanish news website Rebelion has recently published an article to remind certain US officials that they shouldn't ignore the basic fact that China has stood up in the world.

In the past 40 years, the Chinese government has increased the living standards of the people by nearly 20 times, said the article.

China is the main trading partner of almost all countries and its huge development of science and technology will enable it to keep advancing, it continued.

It is a compulsory course for both China and America to understand the fact that the two countries have deeply intertwined and shared interests and accurately grasp the reality that they are dependent on each other.

Unfortunately, some US politicians have peremptorily decided to make the world its own playground and determined to take whatever they want.

While wealth is covetable for a gentleman as well, he takes it in its natural course, as a Chinese saying goes.

Economic and technological advantages are by no means just excuses for the US to boss around other countries.

The US should never sacrifice righteousness for benefits. Only by taking the road of mutual respect, mutual benefit, mutual promotion and common development can a country secure sustained development.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)