Western Elites Find New ‘China Threat’ Theory
By Jiang Feng
November 19, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
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The world has been keeping an
eye on China for the past 40 years, with
adulation and anxiety. Last month, Western
mainstream media outlets including the US'
TIME, France's Le Monde and Germany's Der
Spiegel chose Chinese characters or
pinyin for their cover headlines,
showing the world that "China won;" China, a
rising power; and "China: The Awakening
Giant."
Der Spiegel used "xing lai" (wake
up in English) as its cover headline to echo
its article "The Awakening Giant." On the
one hand, it declared that China had become
an awakening giant and US President Donald
Trump's visit to the country this month was
a "kowtow" to China, or even a farewell tour
to hand over the leadership of the world.
On the other hand, Der Spiegel urged the
West to wake up as soon as possible and
unitedly respond to a rising China. Unlike
in the past, the German magazine admitted
that China had made noticeable achievements
on many fronts. However, these achievements
were interpreted as threats of value and
system to the West, another version of the
"China threat" theory.
When the Western media used the "China
threat" theory in its propaganda, they
thought China would not rise so quickly. But
now, they see an increasingly powerful China
that has crossed the threshold of a
superpower and is outpacing the West on many
fronts including politics, economy,
technology and culture. Der Spiegel displays
a mind-set that believes China and the West
will always confront each other.
Some Western elites shuttle between the
"China collapse" theory and the "China
threat" theory to choose a perspective to
observe China's development, leading to
creative titles and themes: as for the
economy, Lester Brown, president of the
Earth Policy Institute, posed a question in
1995 - "Who Will Feed China?", claiming
growing Chinese demand will "place new
strains on world food supply already
stretched to the limit." The reality is that
China not only fed its huge population, but
also fed the world with over 30 percent
contribution to current global economic
growth.
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As for the system, there were
once arguments on who will rescue China that
has an "unsustainable economy." Moreover, it
was said that only by following the Western
political system can China actually become a
developed country. But it turned out that
hardly any country which undertook reforms
urged by Western elites could develop well.
Instead, such countries suffered setbacks or
even came to the brink of collapse. Even the
West has realized that its system is not
only unable to save China but is itself
under scrutiny.
The West is reluctant to see an increasingly
confident China unwaveringly pursue its own
path. As a result, the voice of "who will
fight against China" is getting increasingly
louder among the Western media. All hopes
are placed on the US and its president.
However, Trump, with his "America First"
thinking, seems to have no interest in the
ideological preferences of Western elites.
Hence, angry Western elites portrayed Trump
as a president "kowtowing" to woo China.
In order to bring Trump back to the fight
against China, they portrayed China's
development and mightiness as a threat to
the West, naturally to the US, attributing
new meanings and intentions to the upgraded
the "China threat" theory.
It's normal for the West to misunderstand
China as they have different values. The
Western elites berating China may need to
seek wisdom from their predecessors.
If history has it right, French emperor
Napoleon Bonaparte once predicted China's
rise and warned British envoys not to
conquer the country but seek mutual benefit.
Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt also
warned that the West did not have the right
to accuse China of going its own way.
Instead, it should show respect for this
ancient civilization and its modern reforms
and development, and never mistake China.
The error in judging China puts the West in
an ideological trap. Instead of drawing
wisdom from its reform and development
program, the Western elite have a
confrontational mind-set and try to hinder
China's development. It may be a temporary
setback for China's development, but cannot
affect the general direction of the
development.
The new version of the "China threat" theory
is meant to stir up trouble, especially to
provoke China and the US to go on a
confrontational course. If the conspiracy
succeeds, the world will be immersed in
chaos. China doesn't need to care about the
new threat theory or collapse theory.
Development is of overriding importance.
The author is a
scholar with Shanghai International Studies
University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
This article was originally published by Global Times -
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