※Wang Bingzhong read a video link to the open letter to US Secretary of State Pompeo
The Real Threat to the US is the loss of self-confidence
──An Open Letter to Mr. Secretary Mike Pompeo
Open letter to US Secretary of State Pompeo: The real threat to the United States is the lack of self-confidence
To
Mr. Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State
United State of America
Dear Mr. Secretary Mike Pompeo,
Dear Secretary Pompeo,
My name is Wang Ping-Chung, the spokesperson for the New Party, Taiwan’s political party. During the ongoing pandemic of the Covid-19, the enemy of all human beings, including the American people and Chinese people, is definitely the corona virus. However, as Secretary of State of the United States, you seem to consider China instead of the virus to be your enemy. It lets you do little in pandemic prevention but much in blaming the WHO and China. You have even made great efforts to politicalize the issue of public health in order to attack China, which reflects the United States’ prevailing concept of so-called China’s threat. Nevertheless, the real threat to the US is not China but the loss of self-confidence indeed.
I am Wang Bingzhong, spokesman for Taiwan's New Party. At a time when COVID-19 is spreading, our enemy is undoubtedly COVID-19 for all of humanity, including the American people and the people of the Chinese. However, as the US secretary of state, you seem to think that the enemy is China and not the virus, so you have done little in the prevention of the epidemic, and your mind is spent blaming the WHO and China. You've even gone to great lengths to politicize public health in order to crack down on China. This actually reflects the long-standing "China threat theory" thinking of the United States. In fact, the real threat to the United States is not China, but the lack of confidence in itself.
As President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “Only thing we have to fear is the fear itself.” The threat you have to fear today is not other peoples but yourselves. Even though you have done your best to shift blames on the WHO and China, the fact is already clear of the US domestic misdiagnosed cases, which had been seen as H1N1 but in fact corona virus since last autumn. It is also your fault in underestimating the severity of the epidemic while China sacrificed itself to let the world have more preparation time. Accordingly, the Covid-19 has killed more than fifty thousand people in America. As China’s population is four times larger than the US, it is quite shocking that America’s death toll due to the Covid-19 has been above China’s.
As President Roosevelt said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." "What you really should fear today is not other countries, but yourself. Even if you are trying to put the blame on the WHO and China, the truth is very clear, that is, as early as last fall, there were cases of the new crown virus being misdiagnosed as the flu in the United States. Even when China sacrificed itself to help the world have more time to prepare, you underestimated the seriousness of the epidemic and planted mistakes. Today, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 50,000 Americans. In the United States, which is only a quarter of China's population, the number of people who have died of COVID-19 has exceeded that of China, which is really appalling.
I feel so sorry for the suffering of your people, yet it is never too late to mend. However, not only did you palm off the responsibility on others, but you also undermined international solidarity against the pandemic. Moreover, you even try to deny the status of the WHO as the coordinator for universal combat against diseases, which in some way means challenging the global institutions under the governance of the United Nations. It is so unbelievable that the United States, viewing itself as the world leader above half a century, is tending to destroy the world order recognized by the international society. The very reason I can think of is the loss of America’s self-confidence. It is the threat to both the US and the whole world.
I regret what happened to your people. In fact, it is not too late to make amends. However, you are only busy throwing the responsibility to others, willing to be a black sheep in the global fight against the epidemic. You may even want to deny WHO's status as the global coordinator of the fight against the epidemic, in a way that challenges the international system under the United Nations. It is unbelievable that the United States, which has always regarded itself as the world's leader for more than half a century, is now trying to undermine the internationally recognized order. The only reason I can think of is that the United States has lost its former self-confidence, which is not only a great danger to the United States, but also a threat to the whole world.
For Liberalists in the United States, China has been believed either an opponent or a violator to international institutions. As far as it’s concerned, there had been debates whether to keep containing China economically and militarily or engaging it institutionally. Both were resulted from America’s confidence in its leadership. Consequently, the confidence gradually changed into arrogance, luring the United States into aggressions upon other countries as the global superpower without permission from the UN Security Council. It made America exhausted at last. Therefore, the United States has become an isolationist, and even a betrayer to the global institutions they established before. On the contrary, China seems more like a protector of the world order.
For American liberals, China has long been seen as an opponent or saboteur of the international system. Under this thinking, the United States debated China policy, whether to continue to contain China by economic and military means, or to integrate China into the international system in a guided manner. In fact, both of these ideas stem from confidence in American leadership. This confidence gradually turned into an arrogance, driving the United States to launch aggression against other countries in the absence of the consent of the United Nations Security Council. These foreign aggressions eventually dragged down the United States and greatly damaged its vitality. Today, the United States has become an isolationist, even turning its back on the international system it once built. Conversely, China is more like a defender of the international system.
On the other hand, for Realists, the predominant thinkers in international politics, China has been seen as the primary rival to America. As they estimate there will be threat if any other regional hegemony occurs, the nation’s fear becomes beyond what its capability can hold. To some extent, this is the real crisis to your people. In fact, different from western nations developing themselves by oppressing and exploiting others, the Chinese people have risen out of poverty at the cost of blood, sweat, and tears of our own. I would like to remind you of Franklin Roosevelt’s self-evident words that nothing to fear but fear itself. The only threat you should conquer is the threat in your mind.
On the other hand, for the major schools of international politics, the realists, China has always been regarded as america's primary adversary. According to their theory, any other regional power emerges as a threat to the United States. This fear of threat is in fact beyond the capacity of the United States. This fear is actually the real crisis in the United States. In fact, unlike Western countries that rely on aggression against others to achieve their own achievements, China's rise depends on its own sweat and blood and tears. Let me quote again President Roosevelt's self-evident words: "We need not be afraid except fear itself." "The real threat you have to overcome is actually your inner demon.
As Henry Kissinger has argued, relations between China and the United States need not – and should not – become a zero-sum game. He also suggested that China and America build a Pacific community with each other. Thinking in the same way, Chinese President Xi also claimed that the vast Pacific Ocean has enough space for the two large countries of China and the United States. Furthermore, I believe the world is large enough to embrace different political and social systems. As western liberalism in recent years has met difficulties in over-consumption and government failure, we should be more open-minded to the superiority of Chinese governance in some fields, especially the high efficiency in defeating the epidemic. The United States should also be more self-confident to have China rising under the global governance of international institutions, sharing with mutual benefits instead of destroying each other. Without doubt, only by doing so can the United States overcome the real threat and bring the world peace and prosperity, the real universal values for all mankind.
As Kissinger argues, the U.S.-China relationship should not and need not become a zero-sum game. He also advocated that China and the United States should create a Pacific Community. Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken the same line of thinking, calling for the Pacific Ocean to accommodate both China and the United States. I think the world is also big enough to accommodate different political and social systems. In recent years, Western liberalism has encountered many difficulties, such as excessive consumption, government dysfunction... wait. We should really be more open and learn from China's governance advantages in some areas, especially the capabilities we have demonstrated in the fight against the epidemic. The United States should also be more confident in embracing China, accepting its rise under an international system of global governance and sharing benefits with China, rather than destroying each other. Undoubtedly, only in this way can the United States overcome its real threat and bring peace and prosperity to the world — the true universal value of humanity.
Sincerely yours,
Wang Ping-Chung
Spokesperson for the New Party
New Party spokesman Wang Bingzhong
