The Foreign Ministry confirmed on the evening of 21 July that the United States has expressed the hope of arranging for US Deputy Secretary of State Sherman to visit China in the near future to exchange views with China on Sino-US relations. As agreed, Sherman will visit Tianjin from July 25 to 26. At that time, Vice Minister Xie Feng of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of Sino-US relations will hold talks with Sherman. After that, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with Sherman.
When the news came, the second-ranking person in the US State Department and executive deputy secretary of state Sherman's hanging heart finally landed - China finally agreed to her visit to China, otherwise, her trip to East Asia would be a tiger and the significance would be greatly reduced.
According to the information released by the official website of the US State Department, Sherman visited Japan, South Korea and Mongolia in East Asia from July 18 to 25, and many foreign media have speculated why she did not visit China.
At the same time, the US State Department and the US media have been speculating about Sherman's visit to China for many consecutive days, but China does not agree on the topic, and the Financial Times reported that China "rejected the US proposal to visit China" by Sherman. In this regard, when my Foreign Ministry spokesperson answered questions from foreign media on many occasions, he said that "there is no information that can be released at present."
Until July 20, Sherman had already visited Japan, and the US State Department was still hyping up the news that Sherman might visit China, and State Department spokesman Price said at a press conference: "We have always insisted that we will continue to explore opportunities for contact with Chinese officials, including senior officials." Foreign media reported that the US State Department's statement was "implying that Deputy Secretary of State Sherman may visit China."
Why did the US government and the US media persevere in hyping up the topic of Deputy Secretary of State Sherman's possible visit to China? First of all, the United States is very eager for China to agree to her visit to China and hold talks with the Chinese side, which can be seen from the itinerary of her visit:
On July 18-25, Sherman visited Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia, and on July 27, she visited Oman in the Middle East, with a gap of nearly two days in between, that is, to reserve time for her visit to China.
Another purpose of the US government and the US media to hype the topic of Sherman's desire to visit China is to try to create an atmosphere and impression that "if Sherman cannot visit China, the responsibility is in China, and if he realizes his visit to China, the credit is in the United States."
The United States is full of calculations about Sherman's visit to China, and this is only one of them, and the other is that her trip to East Asia will be arranged behind Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia, with the intention of telling China that the United States has held talks with its allies Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia first, and what consensus has been reached, you must be "sensible", stop being so tough on the United States, and learn to compromise with the United States. At the Sino-US Anchorage meeting at the beginning of this year, the United States also met with a handful of allies before meeting with China.
As for the United States wanting to hold talks with China, no matter what level it is, our Foreign Ministry has long told the world: If you want to talk, you can, but you must show sincerity!
After consultation, China finally agreed to the United States' proposal to visit Sherman's visit to China, but the United States did not cherish this hard-won opportunity, but instead exposed the condescending ugliness of the hegemon and had no sincerity at all.
At a regular news conference on July 21, State Department spokesman Price said that Deputy Secretary of State Sherman would meet with Chinese officials "from a position of strength" to advance U.S. interests and values and show and demonstrate to China "what responsible and healthy competition looks like."
Over the past few decades, the United States has been dealing with countries around the world "from the position of strength", and the world has suffered for a long time, including many of its allies. However, the condescending and hegemonic "starting from the position of strength" of the United States was officially ended by China.
In March this year, at the High-level Sino-US Strategic Dialogue in Anchorage, Yang Jiechi responded with a loud voice to US Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Adviser Sullivan: "You are not qualified to say in front of China, you talk to China from the position of strength, Chinese do not eat this set!" ”
After that, a number of senior Russian officials publicly stated that the United States was not qualified to talk to Russia "from the position of strength."
In an interview with the media on July 9, Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said forcefully: The so-called "starting from the position of strength" in dealing with China is still a hegemonic mentality and Cold War mentality in his bones, which is nothing more than showing muscles and dancing sticks to scare people. Chinese can't be intimidated! In history, when we were poor and white, millet plus rifles, we were not afraid of anyone, and now there is no reason to be afraid of any "power position".
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an interview with the media on July 21 that individual countries in the world are still immersed in the illusion of "power status" and still give orders to developing countries and contain and suppress them. In the face of this counter-current, China is willing to think with the vast number of developing countries in one place, work hard to make a difference, and firmly safeguard the legitimate rights of developing countries.
Therefore, if US Deputy Secretary of State Sherman talks with the Chinese side in Tianjin, if he still fantasizes about talking with China "from the position of strength", the end is obvious - like the high-level Sino-US strategic dialogue in Anchorage in March, US Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Adviser Sullivan kicked the iron plate, humiliating themselves.
At a regular press conference on July 22, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian poured cold water on the US fantasy of "starting from the position of strength" and talks with China, so that the Americans could wake up in advance, saying: China will make clear to the US side its principled stand on developing Sino-US relations and its firm attitude of safeguarding its own sovereignty, security and development interests, and demand that the US side stop interfering in China's internal affairs and harming China's interests.
In response to US State Department Spokesman Price's false remarks at a press conference on July 21 that Executive Secretary of State Sherman would "proceed from the position of strength" to meet with Chinese officials, on July 23, Zhao Lijian responded again, saying that the so-called "handling of Sino-US relations with 'competition-cooperation-confrontation' by the US side" is essentially still defining China as a competitor, provoking confrontation, and containing and suppressing China's development.
Zhao Lijian stressed that the US side has repeatedly threatened to engage in dialogue with the Chinese side "from the position of strength", which reflects the arrogance and hegemony of the US side. As the Chinese side has repeatedly pointed out, the US side is not qualified to preach or point fingers at China, and it is not qualified to say that it should deal with China from the perspective of its position of strength. "We don't eat this set in Anchorage, and we won't eat this set in Tianjin!"
The times have changed dramatically, the United States still can't recognize the world, can't figure out itself, is still immersed in the dreams and myths of world hegemony, and what it does will encounter more failures and will accelerate its decline.