As we all know, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919, hereinafter referred to as Roosevelt), who brought the United States from a regional country to a world power in the early of the last century, is one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. Even at that time, even many Chinese had a good feeling for the president of the United States. The reason for this is nothing more than that Mr. Roosevelt did several "acts of kindness" to China during his tenure:
One,
Roosevelt actively pursued the "open door" policy of China that was implemented by the previous US government, which objectively prevented the great powers from continuing to divide China. For such a seemingly "benevolent" thing, both american politicians at that time and later liked to hang on their lips tirelessly. In particular, in 1949, US Secretary of State Acheson and current US Vice President Peng Sir did not hesitate to glorify the matter to the height of "safeguarding China's independence and sovereign integrity".
The second,
Second, Roosevelt also successfully mediated the Russo-Japanese War that occurred on Chinese soil from 1904 to 1905, avoiding the devastation of life brought about by the war, and Roosevelt himself was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906.
And then there is,
Under Roosevelt's impetus, a "good deed" was indeed done, that is, the United States returned a part of the "Gengzi indemnity" it received to China, and the Tsinghua Xuetang, the "Preparatory School for Studying in the United States," which is today's Tsinghua University, also ran the Union Hospital. In this regard, Acheson and Peng Sir have always been talking about it.
Undoubtedly, compared with other powers at that time, these few things were indeed not so "naked" in the invasion of China, and even a little "compassionate." However, what I want to say is that if you naively "take it seriously" and regard these things as "friendship", you will be deceived.
The initial origin of the "open door" policy was that because the United States was busy competing with Spain for Cuba and the Philippines, it was unable to take care of China for a while, and when it came back to God, the other powers had basically completed the sphere of influence in China, and the United States had to sacrifice the banner of "open door" in order to "share the interests" and "get a piece of the pie." Although Roosevelt was not the initiator of this policy, it allowed the rapid expansion of U.S. interests in China. In fact, this is precisely the "chess game" in which the United States pursues the greatest interests in China.
Behind the "mediation of the Russo-Japanese War" was the Concern of the United States about the expansion of Japan's power in China, as Roosevelt said in a letter to his friend, "Japan is a terrible new force, greedy, small and belligerent, and once it gains sea superiority, if stimulated, it will occupy our Philippines and Hawaii in one fell swoop." ”
As for the true intention of "running schools and running medical care with Gengzi indemnities", it is even more to cultivate pro-American elites. Chairman Mao saw this very thoroughly and pointedly pointed out that this was a more covert "spiritual aggression" and that the United States "for a long time paid more attention to the activities of spiritual aggression, from religious undertakings to 'charitable' and cultural undertakings." ”
It can be seen from here that the US China policy is not only a glamorous A-side, but also an ulterior B-side or disgraceful side. This is what Chairman Mao said, and these disgraceful things in the United States "although they are done every day, in their mouths and official documents, they are always full of benevolent morality, or a little bit of benevolent morality." Roosevelt's own other performances on China-related issues also provide us with a good cross-section of the US policy toward China.
Of course, Roosevelt's "good deeds" won the favor of the Qing government and even the Chinese people at that time, so that Roosevelt's daughter Alice was warmly received by Empress Dowager Cixi when she traveled to China in 1905, and received a generous gift from Empress Dowager Cixi when she held a wedding at the White House in 1906. But this does not mean that Roosevelt was "pro-China", although he admired China, an ancient civilization in the East, he despised her very much in his heart and bones. In April 1899, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech entitled "Praise for the Endless Struggle" during his tenure as governor of New York, expressing his "view of China":
“
We must not play the role of China, if we repeat China's mistakes, are complacent, covet the peace and pleasures of our own territory, gradually become corrupt and degenerate, have no interest in foreign affairs, indulge in drunkenness and gold, forget the noble life of striving for progress and hard work and adventure, and are busy satisfying the temporary desires of our flesh all day, then there is no doubt that one day we will suddenly discover the fact that China has happened today: fear of war, closed country, coveting peace and pleasure in other belligerent, The adventurous people will certainly decay in the face of the attack.
”
This passage is still "creepy" to read today, but it reminds the Chinese people that coveting peace and enjoyment will only wear away people's bloodiness and enterprising. However, in Roosevelt's eyes, at that time, the whole country in China was already "pretending to sleep", and there was no way to cure it. As someone once said, "You can never wake up a person who pretends to be asleep unless he wakes up himself" This impression constitutes an important part of Roosevelt's "racial" prejudice against China.
Chinese Exclusion Act
Although Chinese belonged to the same Asian yellow race as the Japanese, Roosevelt looked down on Chinese, believing that the Japanese were "submissive Aryans" and that "the Chinese were racial enemies." This prejudice can be said to be deeply rooted in its mind. During his presidency, Roosevelt worked extremely Chinese exclusion, and the most severe anti-China law in US history, the Chinese Exclusion Act, was signed by Roosevelt. Suppose, if the people of the country at that time knew about Roosevelt's prejudice against China, how would they feel? Isn't that kind of good feeling to be greatly discounted?
In fact, history has repeatedly reminded us that whether individuals or nationalities are not bloody, lack enterprising, and cannot stand up spiritually, it is difficult to win respect in front of the strong. If you have to be close to others, you will inevitably encounter the dilemma of "hot face sticking cold ass". If we look at the "b-side" of the US China policy from this conceptual level, it seems that we can also find some clues. After all, "persimmons are still soft and easy to pinch".
Back to today, after dozens of generations of unremitting efforts Chinese, we have moved from "standing up" and "getting rich" to "getting strong", and China is no longer the china that was passively beaten back then. In the face of today's China, the "b-side" of the US China policy has increasingly revealed its vicious features and has constantly shown a failed mania.
On September 13, Kissinger attended an event at the Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C., to share his views on the current U.S.-China relationship.
(Image from the Wilson Center website)
Since the beginning of this year, the United States has provoked and continuously escalated Sino-US trade frictions, the purpose of which is nothing more than to force China to be willing to let it "shear sheep". However, a growing China can no longer walk according to the designs or intentions of others. China will never seek hegemony, but it will never be slaughtered. Recently, a US leader named Peng Sir falsely claimed that China's rise was "carrying out economic aggression" and "geopolitical expansion", and on the other hand, he also claimed to beautify the US past China policy, but no matter which "side" could not withstand the scrutiny of facts and logic, it reflected his own inner anxiety about China's rise, reflected his true intention of vainly trying to interfere, disperse and divert China's and even international attention, and thus delay the pace of China's development.
"Let the wind and waves rise, sit firmly on the Diaoyutai." Whether it is the economic intimidation of trade frictions or the cliché of the "China threat theory", China is not the first time it has encountered it, and it can neither scare us nor lead our noses. In this regard, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphatically pointed out: "Chinese people do not believe in evil and are not afraid of evil, do not cause trouble and are not afraid of things" "No matter how the international situation changes, we must maintain strategic determination, strategic self-confidence, and strategic patience." As long as we keep our minds steady, maintain our concentration, and unswervingly do our own things well, we will not be afraid of any external provocations, no fear of any difficulties and challenges, and no fear of any wind or waves. This is also just as Liu He, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier of the State Council, said in response to a reporter's question on October 19, "Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, China's peaceful development is a historical necessity, and the difficulties and problems we encounter are difficulties and problems in the process of moving forward. ”