Wang Qiang: Safeguarding national security is "fox hunting" rather than "witch hunting"

Source: Global Times

Not long ago, the CIA set up a so-called "China Mission Center" to recruit a large number of spies who knew Chinese. This move was ruthlessly ridiculed by Chinese netizens, and some Western media lamented that China was launching a people's war against espionage, and took the opportunity to label this expression of public opinion as a political "witch hunt". This practice is not only arrogant, but also a manifestation of ignorance.

CIA Infographic

Safeguarding national security is the primary responsibility of the legitimate government of any country in the world, and different political systems and social operation methods also determine that different countries have different methods and paths in safeguarding their own interests. The Chinese government safeguards its sovereignty, security and development interests, adheres to the strategic guidance of the overall national security concept, and on the basis of highlighting political security as the foundation, it places more emphasis on the people's security as the purpose, emphasizes that national security is for the people and that everything depends on the people. For example, we firmly guard the safety of the people, and at the same time rely on the people to solidly carry out the special struggle against organized crime and evil forces, based on the clues provided by the masses, we make every effort to crack down on the crimes of deterring criminal syndicates and evil forces, and the people's sense of security has been significantly enhanced; at the same time, we have paid attention to maintaining the security of citizens' personal information and continuously purifying the network environment. Since 2019, the relevant central departments have organized special governance of the illegal collection and use of personal information by Apps, and built a network security defense line for citizens' personal information, and so on. These achievements were achieved in the form of "people's war" to safeguard national security, which is a social governance method with Chinese characteristics, which some people in the West cannot explain on the grounds that "nationalist sentiments are rising."

These Western media are also particularly concerned about the so-called "dissidents" in China, acting as if they are worried about the personal safety of "dissidents" . Needless to say, there are some "dissidents" in Chinese society who deviate from the mainstream values of society, and for a long time, their words and deeds have in fact become deconstructive factors of China's social cohesion, and thus become a tool used by some foreign forces to balance China under the current situation of the great power game. These "dissidents" are very closely related to various institutions in Western countries, and the so-called awards they receive from these institutions have in turn become the golden sign of their "liberal" political identity, and some people have even become "fighters" against authoritarianism in the eyes of Western anti-China forces, so their every move reflects to a certain extent a certain mirror image of the interaction between Chinese society and "liberal" people.

Today's China's network ecological environment is more fresh and clear, the sediment is no longer possible, and the era when these "dissidents" tried to use the Internet to nihilize mainstream social values between laughter and invection and even instigation are gone. This is the conscious choice of the Chinese people, and this choice is of course directly related to the actual achievements of the Chinese Communist Party in ruling for the people. Obviously, such public opinion does not need to be mobilized to become the mainstream public opinion, and such mainstream public opinion will naturally spontaneously defend its own personally felt national, social and personal interests. Whether or not these "dissidents" are reported as spies is not determined by their "liberal" identity labels, but by whether their actions constitute a real consequence of endangering national security. True freedom is to do everything within the scope of the law, and the eyes of the masses are naturally shining brightly on this point. The struggle of online public opinion against the opinions of "dissidents" is not only open, but also positive. In fact, their remarks are far from talking about the true insights to promote social development and progress, but more are contradictory understandings and ambiguous expressions, and some of the "real problems" they are concerned about have already had more scientific and accurate solutions in the process of reform.

The reasonless accusations by the Western media of the masses of the people's spontaneous patriotic behavior are some kind of political "witch hunts" are even more absurd and absurd. This patent from the church in medieval Europe, apart from persecution based on prejudice and injustice, is more of an outlet for subjective emotions, and there is no merit at any level. Back in the McCarthy era, a large number of righteous people in American society have been unjustifiably suppressed, and many people have to leave their beloved causes forever just because of their friendly attitude towards other countries, which has seriously damaged the education and diplomatic fields of the United States. Today, in the 21st century, in order to create the so-called competitive confrontation effect, some US politicians have even punched out indiscriminately, attacking China hysterically without evidence. This kind of "competition" based on the so-called "bipartisan consensus and government consensus" can only aggravate the Chinese people's antipathy toward the United States. Of course, the Chinese people support the government's strong determination and firm will to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. The door for exchanges between China and the United States for mutual respect and win-win cooperation has always been open. The Chinese government is the government of the people, and respecting the will of the people is an important basis and response to the chinese government's policy formulation. At the level of national strategy, China's ways and methods of dealing with Western countries, including the United States, are inseparable from the solid support of public opinion at the social level. From this point of view, the accusations made by the Western media against us are unjustifiable.

When the main rulers of the previous US government were investigated by the opposition for "connecting with Russia," they said they were victims of political "witch hunts." Now some Western media label China with "witch hunting", reflecting that "witch hunting" is already the gene in the bones of Western political culture, and it is a tool and option that they use in real political life to combat and smear competitors. Unfortunately, this time, Western politicians suppressed the opponent's "witch hunt" and encountered the "fox hunting" who Chinese people to safeguard national security, and the outcome of the victory and defeat was self-evident. (The writer is a researcher at the National Defense University)