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"It will be difficult for China and the United States to reach consensus on some areas in the future"
Regarding the dialogue and consultation between China and the United States, former Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai has already made the reality clear in one sentence. So what's going on here?
China's economic rise has made it difficult for the United States
Since the end of World War II, the United States has quickly amassed a large amount of wealth and become the most economically powerful country in the world, relying on war orders and the advantage of being far from the battlefield on its own soil.
Especially with the construction of the Bretton Woods system, which pegged the dollar to gold, the economic power of the United States remained at the world's leading level after World War II.
Even if the Bretton Woods system collapsed later due to changes in the international financial situation, this did not have much impact on the economic position of the United States.
In terms of total GDP, the United States is still the largest in the world, and the fault line is ahead of other countries, which has continued to this day.
However, with the rise of China's economy, the United States sees its economic position as being challenged.
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, China, as a backward agricultural country, had a very weak economic foundation, and even needed to rely on loans from the Soviet Union to build infrastructure.
According to accurate statistics, in 1950, the mainland's total GDP was only 18.025 billion US dollars, ranking 20th in the world, and it was not even as high as India, which had just become independent.
On the other hand, at that time, the total economic volume of the United States had reached 280 billion US dollars. Based on this data alone, China's GDP is even only 5% of that of the United States. Therefore, in the very beginning, the United States did not pay attention to the development of China's economy.
It was not until 1978 that China began to show the world its huge potential for economic development.
From 1978 to 2000, in just 22 years, China's GDP soared from 367.87 billion US dollars to 10.03 trillion yuan, and its ranking in the world also rose to sixth place.
However, until this time, the United States did not really pay attention to the economic development of the mainland until 2008.
In 2008, the mainland successfully hosted the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, the capital of the country, allowing the world to see how rapid China's economic development has been since the beginning of the new century.
This year, China's national economy has reached 4.59 trillion US dollars, ranking third in the world.
Although the GDP of the United States reached $14.77 trillion in the same year, which was still three times that of the mainland, the continuous narrowing of the economic gap between China and the United States has made the United States pay more and more attention to the economic development potential of the mainland.
After 2008, with the implementation of supply-side reform and the development of high-tech productive forces in the mainland, China's economy ushered in a new upsurge of development.
Among them, represented by "Made in China", the total output value of the mainland's manufacturing industry in 2022 will increase by as much as 33.5 trillion yuan compared with the previous year. In 2023, China's total economic output will further grow to 126.06 trillion yuan, ranking second in the world.
It is precisely because the mainland has shown tremendous potential in economic development. In order to maintain its status as an "economic hegemon," the United States has been using "trade wars" and other means in an attempt to curb the mainland's economic development.
Economic development is related to the overall strength of a country, so it is really difficult for China and the United States to communicate effectively in this regard.
There is no room for compromise in the development of science and technology
Due to reasons left over from history, the mainland's scientific and technological development started relatively late, and it is far behind that of Western countries, especially in some high-tech fields, and it is even more monopolized by certain countries.
Fortunately, in the 90 s of the last century, along with the implementation of the strategy of "rejuvenating the country through science and education," the mainland began to attach importance to investment in the field of scientific research, and ushered in the "spring breeze" of scientific and technological development in the new century.
Since the beginning of the new century, the mainland has successively made many important achievements in the field of scientific research. For example, in the field of manned spaceflight, the "Shenzhou 10" spacecraft was successfully manned in space in 2013, marking another milestone in the field of space flight.
In addition, our technological breakthroughs in ultra-high voltage transmission technology, SPMT transport vehicles and superconductor materials are all showing the world China's scientific and technological strength.
More importantly, the mainland is still increasing its investment in scientific research. According to incomplete statistics, in 2022, the mainland's investment in R&D in the field of scientific research will exceed 3 trillion yuan for the first time.
At the same time, the total number of valid patents in the mainland reached 4.212 million in this year, and the development of China's science and technology has become unstoppable.
However, the rapid development of science and technology on the mainland has made the United States, on the other side of the ocean, feel "uneasy."
In order to maintain its position in the field of science and technology, the United States has adopted a technological monopoly on the mainland and "stuck" us in the field of 5G chips and semiconductors.
Deng Gong once said that science and technology are the primary productive forces, and the development of science and technology is a major event related to the national economy and people's livelihood.
Correspondingly, the United States will not sit idly by and watch the mainland's science and technology continue to grow and develop, and will certainly use other means in the future to interfere with the mainland's science and technology development, which means that it is difficult to reconcile the differences between the two countries in science and technology development.
The development of national defense and military is the bottom line
National defense and military defense are the most important factors that have a bearing on a country's sovereignty and security.
In the early days of the founding of New China, although the mainland's people's army was known as "the strongest army on the surface," it was at a very backward level in terms of weaponry.
In particular, in the construction of the navy and air force, it is even more impossible to independently produce fighters and warships, and needs to rely on foreign imports. It is precisely for this reason that the mainland has suffered a lot because of the backwardness of its weaponry.
At the earliest, on the battlefield of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, although the volunteers finally defeated the well-equipped US army, they also paid huge casualties because of the backwardness of weapons and equipment and the loss of air supremacy on the battlefield.
Then, in the 1994 "Yellow Sea Incident," in the face of the US military's powerful aircraft carrier formation, the mainland profoundly realized the importance of developing its national defense military.
After nearly 30 years of development, China's national defense and military strength have been qualitatively enhanced, especially in terms of weaponry.
The advent of the latest generation of stealth fighter J-20 has made the mainland's air combat power comparable to that of the United States. The launching of the three domestically produced aircraft carriers has made up for the mainland's shortcomings in ocean-going combat capability.
The enhancement of the mainland's national defense and military strength has also made the United States feel uncomfortable, and it is attempting to limit China's armament development through a "public opinion offensive."
As the saying goes, "dignity is only above the edge of the sword," and the development of armaments has a bearing on the mainland's national defense and security, and the mainland is absolutely impossible to make any concessions on this point.
China's international influence is growing day by day
The last major factor is the mainland's growing international status and influence. With the development of the country's comprehensive strength, the mainland's influence in the world is increasing day by day.
In particular, the mainland has always adhered to the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" and coexisted peacefully with all countries in the world, and has demonstrated its responsibility as a responsible major country in the handling of international affairs.
For example, during the pandemic, countries such as Italy and Iran have been in great trouble due to a lack of medical resources. After learning of this news, the mainland immediately extended a helping hand and provided a large amount of medical supplies to these countries to help them tide over the difficulties.
This act has undoubtedly fully demonstrated the mainland's humanitarian spirit and its image as a responsible major country, and has greatly enhanced the mainland's international status.
In addition, as the mainland actively cooperates with countries along the "Belt and Road", China's influence in the international community is also increasing.
All along, in order to maintain its status as a "world hegemon," the United States has been bent on spreading its influence to the whole world, so it is natural that they do not want to see the mainland's international influence continue to increase.
However, this does not mean that there is no room for maneuver between China and the United States in the future. With the changes in the world situation, environmental protection, terrorism and other issues are becoming increasingly prominent.
As major countries in the world, China and the United States should build a community with a shared future for mankind on the basis of consensus, and work together to make the world have a better future.
It is hoped that the United States will be able to recognize the facts as soon as possible, make changes and abandon hegemonism. What do you think about this, please leave a message in the comment area to discuss.