Editor's note: The article was first published by China Plus on July 29, 2019. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CGTN.

China hawk Michael Pillsbury recently suggested that while the United States does not consider China to be an enemy, it will seek to thwart China's plan to replace the United States as the world's leader. Some economists have estimated that the size of China's economy will be triple that of the United States by 2049. Once that point is reached, says Pillsbury, China would then control the United States and turn it into a colony.

Pillsbury's latest remarks seem to confirm that his paranoia is getting out of control. In his 2015 book "The 100-Year Marathon," Pillsbury claimed that China was working on a strategy to supplant the United States as the world's superpower, and to do so by 2049, the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He's now advanced his thesis to suggest that not only would China replace the U.S., but also it will turn the United States into a colony. Pillsbury, and politicians who follow his reasoning, assume that China wants to dominate the world, just as their own country does. These views tarnish China's reputation, as they unfairly turn public opinion against China.

Lies repeated a thousand times do not become truths. The purpose of China's development plans is to create better lives for its people. China has no interest in replacing any country, and cares even less about becoming the world's police. Unfortunately, some people in the United States have held on to their Cold War mentality and are anxious about China's rapid economic development. It bothers them so much that they have allowed their paranoia to grow, fueling anti-China campaigns in order to maintain the supremacy of the United States.

Becoming strong enough to dominate and colonize has never been part of China's nature. In the early 1400s, a Chinese mariner and explorer journeyed many times as far as east Africa. He visited and traded with 30 countries in Asia and Africa, exchanging goods and goodwill for friendship and prosperity. It wasn't until decades later that western countries began their own explorations. They, however, only sought to plunder, colonialize and to enslave.