The British foreign minister wants to brush up on China's sense of existence, and the Chinese side should maintain its concentration when it touches porcelain

Author: Cuckoo

This article only represents the views of the author and does not represent the position of this account

British Foreign Secretary Traus said that if elected British prime minister, China would be listed as a "national security threat". The "China threat theory" is raging and bringing trouble, how should China deal with it?

On August 29, according to the British "Times" quoted by the British Foreign Office, British Foreign Secretary Leeds Tras said that if elected prime minister, he would reshape foreign policy or declare for the first time that China "poses a threat" to Britain's national security. The Times also noted that Tras's allies said China would be elevated to a status similar to Russia, which was defined as a "serious threat" to Britain. On the same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian was asked about the incident at a regular press conference, responding that China would not comment on the British election, further pointing out the irresponsible "China threat theory" of British politicians and not solving Britain's own problems.

This is not the first time Terrass has made remarks about the "China threat." On July 25, Mr. Terrass held a televised debate with rival former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak, in which Mr. Truss said he would crack down on Chinese companies such as Chinese social media platform Tiktok on the grounds that it would "limit the export of technology products from authoritarian regimes to Britain." In this debate, the main political differences between Terrass and Sunak are reflected in economic issues such as whether to reduce taxes or control inflation, while the two sides tacitly agree on the issue of being tough on China. Not only has Terrass shown a tough attitude toward China, But Sunak, who advocated "promoting closer trade relations with China" a month ago, has also fallen into this "China threat" exhibition game. According to Agence France-Presse, Sunak suddenly turned around on July 24, saying that if elected British prime minister, he would adopt a tough policy toward China, calling China the "number one threat" to British and global security, and proposing to close all 30 Confucius Institutes in the United Kingdom. The two also exposed each other's old bottoms in the debate, attacking each other for being once "pro-China factions", lest they be weak in china and be inferior in the election.

The ballot is the baton for politicians to perform political performances, and the "China threat theory" is one of the most popular performance themes favored by politicians in Western countries. Especially at a time when Western hegemony is in decline, order is sluggish, and domestic problems are fraught, it is much easier to shift the blame to the rising Eastern powers than to solve the problem in a real way, and it will set the discontent of the domestic people to China, which they may not have been to, and greatly divert the pressure from the governments of Western countries. Because of these considerations, the "China threat theory" is becoming more and more popular in Western countries.

The "China threat theory" has a long history. In the mid-to-late 19th century and early twentieth century, the imperialist powers vigorously propagated the "Yellow Peril Theory" in order to colonize and divide China, and regarded China's awakening and development as a scourge and threat. For example, from October to December 1906, the British Daily Mail published a series of articles on the theme of "The Awakening of the Chinese Giant", which issued the question "What impact will China's awakening have on European civilization?" Is the arrival of Chinese a blessing or a curse? " questions.

At the beginning of the founding of New China, coinciding with the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the new socialist red regime triggered the hatred of the Western camp led by the United States. At this time, the "China threat theory" focused on military threats, and the Western world, led by the United States, believed that the victory of the Chinese revolution would have a domino effect in Southeast Asia, so it demonized China as a "red terror" and "communist threat".

The reform and opening up in 1978 put China on the fast track of economic and social development, and its military strength and political influence increased day by day. In August 1990, Ryushu Murai, an associate professor at Japan's National Defense University, published an article in the conservative monthly magazine "Gentlemen! The publication of an article entitled "On the Potential Threat of China" is regarded as the beginning of the "China Threat Theory" in the new era. After the end of the Cold War, the Soviet threat disappeared, and along with the historical process of China's rise, the "China threat theory" once again spread. This argument really attracted widespread attention in the second half of 1992, that is, a "southern tour" in the cold spring of that year, which led China to a new path of development and a deeper connection with the world. Since then, the news media, experts, scholars, and politicians in the United States and Western countries have shown concern and even panic about China's rising national strength, and they believe that China will follow the logic of "economic strength , political rise — military expansion" and become a new threat to the international order. This kind of thinking has long restricted the formulation of China policies by the United States and Western countries and China's neighboring countries, and the "China threat theory" has also become a series of dramas staged from time to time.

After Trump became us president in 2017, he regarded China and Russia as the primary strategic competitors of the United States, set off a climax of smearing, suppressing and encircling China in the international community, and creatively used concepts such as "sharp power", "Kinderberg trap" and "revisionist country" to explain the "China threat". The "China threat theory" no longer stays at the level of "verbal violence", but is bound to their China policy, and its destructive power is even worse. Since taking over, Biden has not changed his tough China policy, still intensifying competition with China, and emphasizing the unity of the West and the alliance of allies to pressure China in the ideological field. The current "China threat theory" is no longer limited to the military field, but has spread to the economic, cultural, foreign relations, ideology, ecological environment, science and technology, social life and other fields. This is not only a side confirmation of China's rising national strength, but also a true portrayal of the lack of self-confidence in the United States and Western countries.

In 2018, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out that in the past few decades, the various judgments and predictions of China in the West can be summed up as nothing more than "China threat theory" and "China collapse theory". For the Chinese people who are not accustomed to these arguments, they joke that the Western countries are "the 135 China threat theory and the 246 China collapse theory." The so-called "China collapse theory" means that socialist China will usher in the same collapse as the Soviet Union under the current political system and economic development model. A more famous example is the publication of the book "China is About to Collapse" by Chinese-American lawyer Zhang Jiadun in 2001, which caused a sensation in the United States; Zhang Jiadun, who has tasted the sweetness, has also predicted that China will collapse in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 and other time points. Coincidentally, The Japanese-American political scientist Francis Fukuyama predicted in 2012 that China would collapse at some point in time; Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman wrote in 2013 arguing that "China's economy is about to hit the wall." The "China Collapse Theory" focuses on singing the decline of China, and the "China Threat Theory" focuses on rendering China's rise, and these two seemingly diametrically opposed arguments have the same cognitive basis, that is, ignorance and misunderstanding of China's historical and social reality. And it is precisely because of the fear of "threats" that we hope for "collapse". At present, it seems that China's rise is unstoppable, and all countries around the world have seen it, and the "collapse theory" has gradually lost its market after repeated failures, and the "threat theory" has endured for a long time.

The "China threat theory" is completely out of thin air. In fact, China's decades-long model of peaceful rise has fundamentally dismantled the false concept of the so-called "China threat." China has benefited from the current international system, and a peaceful and stable international order is indispensable for realizing the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Moreover, adhering to the excellent tradition of "being poor, being able to do the best in oneself, and being able to help the world", China has actively participated in UN peacekeeping and international assistance work to help other developing countries build infrastructure after the country's strength has risen and its international status has improved. Actively participate in international affairs such as preventing nuclear proliferation and responding to climate change, and promote the development of the international system in a more just and reasonable direction. In the sudden outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China has also performed well, showing the historical responsibility of a responsible major developing country. In addition, China's traditional culture is not a culture of external expansion, and military construction is committed to resisting risks and defending the country. The essence of Chinese culture is harmony, deeply rooted in the blood of the Chinese nation, is an inclusive, open and civilized political culture, and the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the new era also attaches importance to social harmony and world peace. Therefore, whether from a realistic or historical point of view, the "China threat theory" is simply untenable. But like Hu Wan in the movie "Let the Bullets Fly", the United States and Western countries do not care how many bowls of powder Liuzi has eaten. In addition to the "China threat theory," there are also "Chinese responsibility theory," "China infiltration theory," and other unwarranted "crimes," all of which are the hats that Western countries have put on China's head, and they are all essentially the same.

Although Western countries are facing various problems such as the huge gap between rich and poor, economic downturn, racial contradictions, refugee crises, and imbalances in democratic order, they have shown a downward trend, but the Western countries led by the United States still firmly hold the right to speak in international public opinion, which has also become one of the tools they most often use and have the highest cost performance to encircle and suppress China. By concocting and clamoring for the "China threat theory," Western countries have been able to distort China's mutually beneficial and win-win peace development strategy, smear China as a "saboteur" and "aggressor" of world peace, stability, and economic development, provoke contradictions between China and neighboring countries, and worsen China's development environment, thereby curbing China's peaceful development and safeguarding the hegemonic position of Western countries in the international community.

Second, the success of the Chinese model is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, making the United States and Western countries accustomed to the strong export of "democratic systems" to the outside world and the "cutting of the foot" of other developing countries feel anxious. The aforementioned political scientist Francis Fukuyama wrote The End of History and the Last Man, which mentioned that the end of the Cold War marked the end of communism, and that the development of history was only the path of the Western market economy and democratic politics. The success of China's path has declared the end of the "final conclusion of history" and the superiority of the "most perfect political model" that the Western countries consider themselves. By propagating the "China threat theory," Western countries have been able to "win back a city" in the face of it, and have turned hands to throw the institutional ills in their own development model to China, covering up their inability to solve their own social problems. It could also divert attention from the rising populism, white supremacy, nationalism, conservatism and other radical trends in the country.

The destructiveness of the "China threat theory" is obvious. The long-term negative propaganda activities have caused certain damage to China's national image and people's image, resulting in an increase in the degree of unfriendliness to China in some countries and their people, which is not conducive to the foreign exchanges between the Chinese and the people and the implementation of the "going out" strategy by enterprises, and has also hit the enthusiasm and confidence of some foreign governments and enterprises in investing in China, increased the economic friction between China and other countries in the world, and had a direct impact on China's economic and social development. Moreover, the "China threat theory" has a certain market in neighboring countries, causing friction between China and neighboring countries, reducing mutual trust between countries, which is not conducive to the development of political and economic relations between China and neighboring countries, making China need to be distracted to deal with a more complex international environment in the process of peaceful development. In addition, the hype of the "China threat theory" also provides an excuse for Western countries and neighboring countries to expand their military power, such as the US military that frequently renders the "China threat" to ask Congress for money to increase military spending, and also continuously strengthens its military presence in Asia, and neighboring countries also spend a lot of money to buy advanced weapons and equipment, raising the risk of China being pulled into the trap of regional arms race.

The harm of the "China threat" hyped up by the United States and Western countries on the Taiwan issue has become more prominent, mainly reflected in two aspects: military and foreign affairs. By playing up the so-called "military threat" of the mainland to the Taiwan region, constantly violating the commitments in the "Three Communiques" that are the political foundation of Sino-US relations, increasing arms sales to Taiwan, making breakthroughs in the performance and quantity of weapons and equipment, and strengthening US-Taiwan military cooperation, he proposed that the so-called "strengthening of Taiwan's defense capability" should be regarded as one of the strategies to deter China. In addition, by playing up the so-called "model threat" of the mainland to the Taiwan region, the Western media portrayed the Tsai Ing-wen administration as a "defender of democratic Taiwan", exaggerated the institutional differences between the Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region, and smeared the just behavior of Chinese mainland safeguarding the reunification of the motherland as "the victory of the authoritarian model over democracy". Western countries led by the United States have frequently sent parliamentarians and officials to "visit" Taiwan. These measures have greatly raised the psychological expectations of the Tsai Ing-wen authorities to "rely on the United States for independence" and to rely on foreigners to gain self-respect, and have raised the difficulty of Chinese mainland resolving the Taiwan issue and realizing the reunification of the motherland at an early date.

More and more people realize that the public opinion offensive carried out by Western countries against China is pervasive, and the "China threat theory" is only a typical representative of it. China should respond effectively to this. First of all, the self-bankruptcy of the "China collapse theory" tells us that the key to breaking the rumor lies in the development of China's own national strength. In the face of the "China threat theory" that is raging, the Chinese side should still maintain the strong determination of "doing it to me," unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and concentrate on doing its own things well in accordance with its own established rhythm and in the correct direction tested by history and the people. Second, Chinese people are not afraid of trouble, and in the face of the negative public opinion deliberately stirred up by the West, they will naturally not choose to "stand up and be beaten." Therefore, on the one hand, it is necessary to take the initiative to strengthen international cooperation, "the beauty of beauty, the United States and the United States", and break the negative image of the "China threat" by strengthening mutually beneficial and win-win economic cooperation and enhancing military and political mutual trust. On the other hand, it is necessary to enhance China's voice in the international community, broaden the channels of voice, and make full use of the media to tell the Chinese story. In terms of the core interests involving China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Chinese side will never succumb to any external pressure, and Taiwan must be reunified and will inevitably be reunified.