Commentary: US is the biggest threat to world peace

Earlier this month, the United States House Committee on Armed Services passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022, boosting defense spending by $777.9 billion for military and national security programs. The bill named China as a “threat” to the US, and used this as an excuse to increase the US military budget in a bid to expand the military power of the country.

As history has proved, the US is a true threat to world peace.

The US has hyped the so-called “China threat” theory, holding onto a zero-sum game mentality

In the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance released by the US National Security Council on March 3, 2021, US President Joe Biden said that “America is back. Diplomacy is back. Alliances are back.” By hyping the “China threat” cliché, the US administration has again taken the wrong direction in ganging up with its allies to maintain American hegemony.

To maintain the country’s hegemony, the Biden administration shifted US military strategy from the “war on terrorism”, which the US has waged over the past two decades, to the competition arena of major powers. To complete its global strategic adjustment, the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, and continued to view China as a vital challenge.

In an interview with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) on Feb.7, 2021, Biden said China is in for “extreme competition” with the US under the course of his administration. In the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, the US said clearly that “China, in particular, has rapidly become more assertive. It is the only competitor potentially capable of combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system.” The Guidance also defined the US’ China policy from three perspectives: cooperation, competition, and confrontation, while regarding addressing challenges from China as a national security priority.

As a guiding document on US national security during the current US administration, the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance is a demonstration of the US’ zero-sum game mindset, as well as an old trick of the US to trumpet the “China threat” with an aim to maintaining its hegemony.

The continuously increasing US military budget reflects the country’s ambition to maintain American hegemony

The US has the highest military spending worldwide, maintaining a large defense budget. According to a report on trends in global military expenditure in 2020 released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on April 26, US military expenditure last year increased by 4.4 percent over the previous year, representing the third consecutive year of growth. This expenditure accounts for 39 percent of overall global spending, and is equivalent to the sum of all the countries ranked between third to 33rd on the list.

In December 2020, during the Trump administration, in order to promote the country’s “Indo-Pacific Strategy”, the US Congress passed the national defense budget for fiscal year 2021, establishing the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a military fund to boost deterrence against China. The Biden administration has also continued its predecessor’s policy by further enhancing the US presence in the region.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 released in May showed that the US defense budget for operations in the Indo-Pacific region reached $66 billion, and $5.09 billion went to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.

At a summit on global emerging technologies held in July, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin proposed the strategy of “Integrated Deterrence”, saying that the US needs to create technological advantages for itself in the competition between major powers.

In a word, the US government, in the past or at present, has always had strategic anxiety toward China, as well as ambition to maintain its hegemony.

The US has a notorious record of intervening in the affairs of other countries and waging wars around the world

“We add value to the stability to the region,” said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin before his visit to Asia on July 24, 2021. However, this is not the truth at all as US troops brought only chaos to every place they were found to be present and displaced local people.

It is a common practice for the US to maintain hegemony through waging wars. The US has only been at peace for less than 20 years since its independence in 1776. According to incomplete statistics, from the end of World War II in 1945 to 2001, among the 248 armed conflicts that occurred in 153 regions of the world, 201 were initiated by the US, accounting for 81 percent of the total number. The 800-odd US military bases located around the world frequently launched wars in foreign countries.

Since 2001, the US has waged unjustified wars and military operations in foreign countries, causing over 800,000 deaths and displacing tens of millions. On Aug. 29, the US launched a drone strike in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, under the guise of counter-terrorism operations, having claimed that two terrorists were killed in the action. On Sept. 17, the Commander of US Central Command Kenneth McKenzie admitted that the strike was a mistake because those who died were not in fact associated with terrorist groups, with the strike killing as many as 10 civilians, including 7 children.

The US is a big arms exporter and the “black hand” destroying world peace and stability

Apart from being directly involved in wars, the US has intervened in other countries’ affairs by supporting proxy wars, inciting anti-government insurgencies, carrying out assassinations, providing weapons and ammunition, and training anti-government armed forces. According to a research report by Brown University on Sept. 13, the Pentagon’s spending has totaled over $14 trillion since 2001, with nearly one-half of the total going to military contractors.

Statistics by the SIPRI indicate that the US has remained the world’s largest arms exporter. Between 2010 and 2020, more than a third of all weapons traded worldwide were manufactured in the US. In August, Mexico filed a lawsuit against multiple US gun makers, arguing that the American companies knew that their practices would facilitate gun violence in Mexico and yet still did nothing to stop selling guns to Mexico regardless of the buyer’s record.

Peace and stability is the shared aspiration of people all over the world. However, with US politicians refusing to take responsibility for creating chaos around the world, while trumpeting the “China threat” in an attempt to justify the US’ soaring military spending, the US has proved once again that it is the biggest threat to global peace and security.

The practices of the US will inevitably lead to more humanitarian disasters if the country does not discard its zero-sum game mindset, refrain from intervening in the affairs of other countries and stop waging wars in foreign countries. The right path for the US to take is to view China in an objective manner, and adhere to mutual respect and cooperation, so as to control divergences, safeguard global peace and stability and improve the welfare of all mankind.