Sino-US relation is one of the most important bilateral relations in current international community. There is no doubt that any bilateral relationship will not be perfect, even between two persons. What’s more, international relations involve political, military, economic, security and other factors, which are more complex. We cannot ignore the existing problems and contradictions in Sino-US relation, but it is dangerous for the United States to exaggerate its fear of China unilaterally. These words are clearly pointed out by Joseph Nye, a professor of Harvard University, in a recent article published on the website of Project Syndicate.
Although Professor Nye is a world-renowned political scientist, it is necessary to re-introduce his important position to readers who are not very concerned about political science. He is a Ph.D and professor of political science at Harvard University. He also had served as assistant secretary of state, chairman of the National Intelligence Council and assistant secretary of defense of the United States. The concept of “soft power” we are familiar with was first put forward by him. What I want to say is that the judgment of such an important person is very noteworthy. Disregarding the real purpose of the US government’s deliberate attempt to exaggerate threats from China, creating irrational fear and inducing public hostile to China is also very dangerous for the United States.
Although a White House spokesperson said that the US saw the relationship with China as one of strong competition that required a position of strength, but Professor Joseph did not go along with it fully. In his view, economic and ecological interdependence reduces the probability of a real cold war, much less a hot one, because both countries have an incentive to cooperate in a number of areas. For example, China and the United States share a lot of common interests and cooperation space about the issue of Afghanistan. The two countries could work together to promote breakthrough progress in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorists again, eliminate drug cultivation and smuggling, strengthen the geographical advantage of Afghanistan as an Eurasian land bridge and enhance the rights of survival and development of the Afghan people, etc. Of course, in the fields of eliminating pandemic threat, handling climate change and accelerating global economic development, which are the common interests of all humankind, China and the United States could unfold more cooperation.
As the most powerful country in the world today, the United States needs to focus on the common interests of all humankind, not just its own interests, and should not deliberately create an external imaginary enemy due to the needs of domestic party struggles. Throughout history and reality, the Chinese people, like the Afghan people, have always been unafraid of struggle and pressure, but we need to focus more on domestic economic and social development and building mutual beneficial international relationship. Professor Nye also mentioned the famous “Thucydides Trap”. He said that Thucydides attributed the war that ripped apart the ancient Greek world more than 2,000 years ago to two causes: the rise of a new power, and the fear that this created in the established power. The second cause is as important as the first. Now, the United States should avoid exaggerating this fear.
