How difficult is it to stop China's rise? The United States has the most say on this issue and has the best say in containing China's rise

When discussing how to deal with the trade war, many people emphasized the importance of self-improvement and deepening internal reforms, and advocated further promoting reform and opening up and building a more perfect market economy system. These perspectives are undoubtedly extremely valuable, and I would like to point out that in these internal cultivations, technology-related abilities are particularly crucial.

If we can make great efforts in this regard and shape China into the country that attaches the most importance to science and technology, respects scientists the most, and attracts scientists in the world, then no matter what challenges and difficulties we face, we will be able to solve them and eventually succeed.

I believe that the wise people will make the right decisions to choose the path that will lead us to prosperity and power, and to cast our eyes on the wider context of time and space, and we should actually be very fortunate that we are living in an era where science is the driving force, not just the size of the population, the resources of the land, or the misuse of force. Looking back at history, we can see that in ancient societies, the situation was very different. Ancient civilizations such as Sparta, Rome, and Mongolia did not thrive on scientific advances, but more on manpower, geographical superiority, or military expansion. However, in today's era of rapid change, the power of science is becoming more and more prominent, and it has become a core element to promote social progress and national strength, and it is a rare blessing for us to be able to live in such an era of scientific prosperity.

In fact, the idea of progress is a relatively new concept in the long history of mankind. In the long years, the pace of human progress was unusually slow, and even often regressed, in the agricultural society, due to the feudal system, it was difficult for the ancients to regard progress as the norm, on the contrary, the concept of repetition is the general perception in their hearts.

In the case of Wang Anshi's reform in the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang had a heated argument over financial issues. Wang Anshi advocated that those who were good at managing money could enrich the wealth of the country without increasing the burden on the people, while Sima Guang held the traditional view that the wealth between heaven and earth was limited, either in the hands of the people or the government. Now it seems that Wang Anshi's views are obviously more forward-looking and correct, and he has transcended the limitations of the times and shown a broader vision.

We can see that for most of the human history, due to various restrictions and constraints, the concept of progress has not been widely recognized and accepted, but with the changes of the times and the progress of society, people have gradually begun to realize the importance of progress and strive to promote the development and progress of society.

Sima Guang's fallacy lies in his failure to recognize that there is a phenomenon in the world called economic growth. It is only in modern times that exponential growth has gradually become the norm, which is a special case in the long history of mankind. However, it is striking that China's economic growth rate was completely stagnant at 0.00% between 1700 and 1820, and between 1820 and 1913 it fell to minus 0.08%, showing a clear downward trend. It is this seemingly small difference in growth rates that has allowed the West to establish an overwhelming advantage over the non-Western world in just 200 years.

In contrast to today's China, GDP growth in 2018 was 6.6%, a staggering rate that means that the country's economy doubles every 11 years. Incredibly, however, there are still many who believe that such a growth rate is too low, and even predict the imminent collapse of China's economy. This assertion is truly shocking, and completely ignores the strong growth momentum and huge potential of China's economy.

Why has exponential growth become the norm in modern times? It is rooted in the birth of modern science. The most significant achievements of modern science are not just specific knowledge such as Newton's laws or the steam engine, but the systematic and progressive methods it has brought about, namely the methodology of science, the axiomatic logical method, and the experimental trial-and-error method.

Before the advent of modern science, human progress was mostly a vague process of exploration, knowing what it was but not knowing why, and being in a state of spontaneity rather than consciousness. However, the advent of modern science has completely changed this situation. It makes human progress clear, conscious, and systematic, where every exploration and discovery can be accumulated, and every evidence can be examined.

Since then, mankind has embarked on an infinite path of development and made rapid progress. Modern science not only provides mankind with a new perspective to understand the world, but also gives us infinite possibilities to explore the unknown, making exponential growth the norm in modern times and leading mankind towards a more brilliant future.

Although China has failed to become the birthplace of modern science, this is by no means a reason for pessimism. In fact, we have full optimistic expectations for the development of science in China, and the greatest charm of science lies in its universal logic and intelligibility. Whether individuals, nations or countries, as long as they are willing to learn and develop science, the door of science will be open for them, science is a real universal value, it will neither flourish with the emergence of a wise king, nor will it die with the rule of a tyrannical lord, once you have mastered scientific knowledge and skills, no one can deprive you of this ability, it is truly your own. Therefore, we have reason to believe that China will continue to move forward on the road of science and make more brilliant achievements.

China's population is a staggering 1.4 billion, a figure that surpasses the population of all developed countries combined. Of course, the definition of developed countries and the setting of thresholds will vary depending on different standards and perspectives. However, if we can make full use of this huge human resource and turn it into a force of scientific and technological workers, the number may be equal to or even greater than that of all developed countries combined. Furthermore, if we can attract talent from all over the world to China, the possibilities for miracles will be endless.

At that point, any attempt to isolate China will probably become a laughing stock, and the real ones who will be isolated may be those who make such voices. Imagine if the ancients had traveled back in time to modern times, they would have been surprised to find that the focus of competition between nations had shifted to science, the most civilized of all of them. The progress of human society has entered a new era with science and technology as the core, which is undoubtedly a deeply gratifying thing.