As the world's number one power today, the United States' every move, every word and deed is watched by the world, and the most discussed topic among countries is, has the United States declined?
Many people feel that the United States is indeed much weaker than during the Cold War, and with a strong and rapidly developing adversary behind it, China, the talk that the United States will soon be replaced by China has spread unconsciously.
The news that China is about to replace the United States is even more popular with many Chinese, but Mr. Zheng Yongnian expressed in China: blindly singing the praises of the United States, and even thinking that China can soon replace the United States is harmful to the country.
So is there any basis for America's decline? What is the meaning of the expert's words?
01, is the United States really in decline?
According to data released by the US Department of Commerce, the GDP of the United States in the first quarter of this year was $6,481.5 billion, and the total GDP in the first half of the year was $132447 billion, an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year, exceeding the initial data of the United States.
The U.S. economy remains stable, and Wall Street remains firmly in the world's largest financial market, with advanced trading systems and new financial products.
The US currency, the US dollar, has always dominated the global payment system, accounting for as much as 85% of the global financial settlement field, and it is precisely because of the universal nature of the US dollar that the United States can control financial resources, arbitrarily issue additional US dollar bonds, and attract capital for itself around the world.
In addition to the economy, the military strength of the United States should not be underestimated, the United States ranks first in military spending every year, reaching $742 billion in 2021, and is rising year by year, and it is expected that military spending may reach hundreds of billions in another 10 years.
Echoing the high military expenditure is the development and production of advanced weapons and equipment, the United States also has the world's largest fleet and base, the United States research and development of weapons not only for their own use but also for sale, the United States arms exports in the 17-21 years of the 5 years increased by 14%, accounting for up to 39% of the world, the clear figures are the best embodiment of the strength of the US military.
The strength of the United States is also reflected in the fact that it can call for wind and rain in the international community and do whatever it wants, and there is no lack of American handwriting behind the Russian-Ukrainian war that was raging some time ago. The United States acted as Ukraine's backer behind its back, encouraging it to constantly encroach on Russian territory, and finally Russia could not bear it to trigger this conflict.
After the outbreak of the conflict, the United States gave Ukraine weapons and ammunition support, while entangled its ally and younger brother to jointly put pressure on Russia and launch comprehensive sanctions against it, the United States is the core force of NATO's military allies, has a pivotal position and a very high right to speak.
The United States used its strong appeal to easily get the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, France, Japan and dozens of other countries to shoot sanctions arrows at Russia.
On the issue of Taiwan, the United States has not been less involved; on the surface, it speaks with slogans that support the one-China principle, but behind the scenes, it encourages and supports "Taiwan independence elements" to engage in separatism, sends officials to sneak into Taiwan, completely ignores the stern condemnation of the Chinese side, and keeps jumping repeatedly on the red line of our sovereign territory.
Not only are the countries of the world victims of US hegemonism, but even world organizations are not immune, and the so-called "human rights democracy" of the United States is entirely used to restrain others.
In the face of the global outbreak of the new crown epidemic, he is clearly the biggest failure in the fight against the epidemic, with more than 10 million infections and more than one million deaths, but he still does not reflect on himself, but blames other countries and WHO for the reasons for the failure of the anti-epidemic.
The last US President Trump directly announced his withdrawal from the WHO in anger, and after withdrawing, he still denied funding, and as a dignified world health organization, he could not escape the sledgehammer of US hegemonism after all.
Let me ask, if the strength of the United States really declines, will there be the above-mentioned situation where the United States provokes and confronts China and Russia at the same time, and does not take the WHO into account at all?
Of course, the answer is no, fooling around because the United States has confidence and capital, which shows that American hegemonism is still very strong!
Although the hegemonism of the United States is still rampant, as far as careful observation is concerned, the decline of the United States can also be traced, and the crisis within the United States is manifested in specific political policies, mainly focusing on the shortcomings of the political system.
The problem of racial conflict in the United States has always been serious, and contradictions are often intensified, according to a recent survey report by American universities, more than 80% of cities in the United States are engaged in racial segregation.
For example, more than 80 percent of Detroit's residents are African-American, while 90 percent of Gros Point is not far from him is white, and this clear segregation makes the weak African-American group more vulnerable to economic crises or global shocks, which is completely unreasonable and discriminatory.
As we all know, the United States is a country with free arms, and this policy on the one hand guarantees the safety of American citizens, but at the same time, it also spawns many illegal and violent acts.
Since 2020, more than 4,000 innocent children have died in shootings in the United States, not to mention adults, as a result of the growing prevalence of gun violence.
The vast majority of wealth in the United States is concentrated in the hands of a few people, the rich increase their wealth by exploiting the control of the law to evade taxes, and finally the rich people are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and some poor people can't even look down on illness.
Income inequality in the United States has been increasing since the 21st century, with the income gap between the top and bottom households as much as 12.6 times. Over the past 40 years, the incomes of U.S. government officials and employees of state-owned enterprises have increased by as much as 900 percent, while the incomes of the working class have increased by only 11.9 percent.
Giving and income are not proportional, which will inevitably cause serious dissatisfaction with the country and the government, according to polls, the level of trust in the government in the United States is only 43, which has been declining year after year.
A series of social problems such as the widening gap between the rich and the poor, racial discrimination, economic injustice, and the increasing prevalence of gun violence have all exposed the huge failure of the US government in national governance, and the root of all these problems lies in the decline of the "American-style democracy" system.
The most obvious manifestation of the collapse of "American-style democracy" is the unscrupulous, bottomless partisan struggle, in which the two parties wantonly attack each other and do not give in to each other in order to protect their own interests. The former president and the current president slander each other, the president and the speaker of Congress hurt each other, and make the US political scene a miasma.
Human rights in the mouth, hegemony in practice, this trick of the United States to say one thing and do another is not destined to last long, and his mask of hypocrisy will one day be torn off.
Perhaps from the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003 to the hasty flight from Afghanistan, each of these events laid the groundwork for the decline of American hegemony.
There is no doubt that the United States will surely have a day of decline, but we should not be too optimistic, as the famous scholar Zheng Yongnian said, the decline of US hegemonism is a long-term slow process.
At least for a short period of time, the status of the United States as the world's number one power is difficult to shake, and if Chinese is optimistic that it can replace the United States immediately, it is not a sign of patriotism, but a self-deception.
02, don't turn patriotism into "harming the country"
The patriotism of the Chinese people, feeling that China will definitely surpass the United States in the future is a manifestation of patriotism, and it is also worthy of praise and respect, but patriotism should be rational and respect objective facts, if you blindly elevate yourself and belittle others, it will harm our country.
Although the United States has its own problems, our country cannot be said to be perfect, and there are many problems inside and outside the country that need our attention to solve. It is gratifying that China has achieved today's great achievements, but only we know this bitterness.
We have gone through countless twists and turns to get to where we are today, so every decision we make, every step we take, must be well thought out.
At no time can we make mistakes, we must have the spirit of exploration and a prudent attitude, otherwise all the achievements achieved now may be lost.
In the face of China's rise, it can be said that some people are happy and some are sad, we have developed, the vested interests of many countries will inevitably be affected, and if we want to obtain peaceful and stable development space, we must properly handle relations with other countries in the world.
The mainland is fundamentally ideologically different from many Western capitalist countries, and many countries are manipulated by the United States and their attitude towards China is not friendly.
Leaving aside these distant countries, the relations between the mainland and neighboring countries are also complicated, and there are still many historical problems left over from each other that need to be resolved. Some contradictions with neighboring countries have been maliciously provoked by the United States, but even without the intrigues of the United States, China's rise has made neighboring countries worry about their own security.
In addition, territorial disputes and tensions in the South China Sea, East China Sea, Korean Peninsula and other places on the mainland have always existed, and these potential threats and challenges have brought considerable hidden dangers to the mainland's national security.
Another relatively big problem is Taiwan's return, and Chinese mainland has never given up using peaceful means to promote Taiwan's return to the embrace of the motherland.
However, because many radical Taiwan independence elements have obstructed it, it has become more and more difficult for the return of the Taiwan region. If the Taiwan issue is not resolved one day, China's sovereign territory will not be considered complete, and despite all odds, we must unswervingly follow the road of reunifying Taiwan.
In addition to political diplomacy, domestic affairs and other challenges, the mainland's economic development has also encountered difficulties, since the Sino-US trade war, the global economy has been greatly affected, China's export industry has not been spared, but also directly affected the mainland's economy.
The mainland's economic level has maintained a high growth rate, but in recent years the speed has slowed down significantly, which means that China's economic development is facing great pressure, and the problem of employment difficulties has also emerged.
Facts have proved that every country has some problems to a greater or lesser extent, or external crises or internal problems, and the more we love our own country, the more we cannot selectively ignore our own country's problems and only magnify the shortcomings of other countries.
At all times, we must recognize ourselves, do not avoid or deny our own problems, and do everything possible to solve problems and make our country better, which is what a true patriot should do.
brief summary
Looking back at the past 40 years since the reform and opening up, all the great achievements we have achieved have been obtained by lying down and humbly studying. We have achieved a small amount now, but it is not enough, and we need to continue to move forward and continue to work hard to make our friends underestimate our strengths and our enemies overestimate our shortcomings.
In short, China must take a rigorous and correct view of the development of the United States, neither overestimating nor arbitrarily underestimating, overestimating may dampen its self-confidence, and underestimation may also make itself slack and stop moving forward.
Reference sources:
[1] "The Unbearable Mistake of China's Rise", Zheng Yongnian, September 2016
[2] "Politicization of Traceability: Another Turning Point in the Decline of the Spiral of US Hegemony", People's Daily Network 2021-09-08
[3] "America is sick": The institutional decline of the United States, Xinhuanet, October 1, 2022