Wu Guangqiang

jw368@163.com

U.S. President Donald Trump released his 55-page national security strategy on Dec. 18, which is based on four principles: protecting the homeland by restricting immigration, pressuring trading partners, building up the military and otherwise increasing U.S. influence globally.

It’s above criticism for any country to compile a national security strategy, and it’s alright for Trump to regard the U.S. economic security as fundamental to national security, but it’s quite confusing whether Trump’s decision to label China and Russia as strategic rivals would make the U.S. more secure.

The report describes the reasons why it calls China and Russia strategic rivals: “China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.” “They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence.”

All other details can be ignored as this has already hit the mark: “China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests.”

It’s known to all that the U.S. and Russia are engaged in numerous ideological and geopolitical confrontations such as the alleged Russian interference in America’s general election, (which sounds ironic given America’s habitual interference in foreign countries’ internal affairs), and the conflicts over Ukraine, Syria, and other areas, which may partly justify why America sees Russia as a strategic rival.

But Trump’s accusation of China of “attempting to erode American security and prosperity” is entirely groundless and hysterical. And as a Xinhua News Agency commentary pointed out, it was an expression of “a Cold War mentality.”

Trump’s charges against China are nothing new: he often cites China’s “abusive” trade practices, such as the “theft” of U.S. companies’ intellectual property.

Though Trump has tried to demonstrate his own style and approach of governance by ditching his predecessor’s policies and practices, the outsiders, particularly the Chinese, see no difference between this strategy and all the previous ones, as they are based on a hegemonic mindset, with an attempt to acquire American security at the expense of other nations. They see another nation’s rise as a world power a threat to the U.S.

Unlike the Chinese philosophy that one more friend is preferable to one more enemy, American philosophy seems to be that the absence of enemies makes America less safe, so it keeps seeking enemies, and creates one if there is none.

China has achieved its tremendous success through unremitting efforts. It is with the outstanding leadership of the Party and the Chinese Government, the hard work of the Chinese people and their excellent learning capacity and creative power, China’s integration into the global economic system and its commitment to observing international rules in trade and other economic activities, that has enabled China to leap from a poverty-stricken country to the world’s second-largest economy in a mere 30 years. China is a winner at fair play, so China has no intention, nor necessity to win a competition by hurting others’ interests.

It’s true that decades ago theft of intellectual property was rampant in China and among Chinese businesses. It not only harmed the interests of foreign companies, but those of domestic businesses, and China itself is the prime victim of the violations.

For the past decades, China has been combating tirelessly against the infringement of IP and the achievements have been widely recognized. The continuous accusations look ridiculous and meaningless.

Some observers have dismissed Trump’s act of labeling China as a strategic rival as a move to cover his anxieties over China’s rapid rise and a sense of inability to contain China’s rise through peaceful means.

There is a necessity for the U.S. to adjust its own mentality toward China as an emerging power. It’s a historical inevitability for a great country with a population of 1.4 billion people to overtake another great country with only 330 million people, as long as both peoples are equally hardworking, intelligent and creative.

Hospitality, not hostility, will create a win-win situation for China and the U.S. Get on good terms with reality, since it’s no use trying to stop others from growing.

(The author is an English tutor and freelance writer.)