US playing a dangerous zero-sum game with China

A group of experts on China, national security practitioners, human rights and religious freedom activists and others launched the so-called Committee on the Present Danger: China (CPDC) on Monday. PresentDangerChina.org said that "Communist China represents an existential and ideological threat." It is wrong for the US to regard China as a major enemy. The US is unconsciously getting lost in its strategic maze.



The Committee on the Present Danger (CPD) was first formed in 1950 during the Cold War era to counter "the aggressive designs of the Soviet Union." In 2004, the CPD turned to address the US war on terrorism. Now, US policy advisers again revived it to target China, its so-called "aggressive totalitarian foe." Has the US never abandoned its Cold War mentality?



As the US' current imaginary enemy, China is completely different from the previous two - the Soviet Union and terrorism. The Soviet Union was trapped in a vicious cycle of an arms race with the US. The situation involved a confrontation between two military groups and a balance in nuclear deterrence. China, however, focuses on its own path of development and has never declared it wanted to defeat the US.



As for terrorism, China provided much support for the US fight against terrorism after the 9/11 attacks. China has also found an effective way to rid its soil of terrorism and extremism. Counter-terrorism is also a subject that Beijing and Washington can collaborate. How did China become the US' target?



It seems that Washington has been keeping an eye on Beijing. For example, US Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday announced the country's plans to return to the moon in five years, saying China and Russia's achievements in space are evidence that the US is in a "space race." The US regards China as a foe in many areas. Washington is setting up an imaginary enemy to encourage itself. It wants to win in the zero-sum game. This is the most dangerous part.



The real challenge for the US is not China, but labeling China as its foe. Ideology and competition have blinded the US. As Henry Kissinger declared in 1969, "We will judge other countries, including Communist countries… on the basis of their actions and not on the basis of their domestic ideology." China has never demanded that the US accept its ideology. The US, however, acts like a missionary to make China its ideological colony. There is a political force in Washington that tries to shape Beijing as an enemy. The US would be going astray if it follows that force.



The world order is completely different from the Cold War era, but Washington continues to stick to its outdated state of mind. China is not afraid of US competition, nor has the country ever thought of defeating the US as a major enemy. But if the US insists on playing such a game, China has the ability to fight to the end.

