U.S. hardliners on China are repeating historical mistakes

The eastern theater command of the People's Liberation Army is conducting combat exercises near the Taiwan Strait, a reasonable and necessary action to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

As some politicians of the United States and Democratic Progressive Party authority in Taiwan are colluding more strongly, frequently creating disturbances in Taiwan Strait, it is just an illusion that China will flinch in the face of threats to its cores interests.

With deep-seated Cold-War mindset and anti-China craziness, a handful of self-serving U.S. politicians intend to draw a "new iron curtain" and advocate bloc rivalry to suppress China, regardless of international responsibilities and multilateral rules. They have been attempting to rebut the leadership role of the Communist Party of China (CPC), brandishing the tariff stick to crush China's economy, unilaterally sanctioning Chinese companies to keep its monopoly in science and technology, and playing political tricks and flexing military muscles to infringe on China's sovereignty, security and development interests.

These political forces, though they look like powerful monsters, are in essence "paper tigers," which are outwardly strong but inwardly feeble, and doomed to failure given their incapability to represent the common will of the U.S. people and due to their unpopularity in the international community.

Washington's neglect of lives in its slow response to the virus, human rights abuses exposed in the domestic social problems, low efficiency in dealing with public crisis, short-sighted approach in handling economic and trade issues, to name a few, have revealed the true face of the politicians in the White House who put their political interests prior to American people. No wonder some U.S. media called the current situation "American Failure."

Contrary to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's claim that more and more countries now side with Washington's view of the world, surveys show that the image of the United States has become increasingly unpopular as a result of misguided foreign policies led by Pompeo and his likes. According to the Best Countries 2020 rankings, the world's trust in the U.S. has dropped by 50 percent over the past two years, the sharpest drop of any country assessed in the report.

The world is undergoing changes unseen in a century. The Washington hawks are sparing no efforts to contain a nation that is geared up to cope with difficulties and obstacles ahead on its path to realizing the dream of national rejuvenation.

The leadership of the Communist Party of China, with its people-centered governance philosophy, has won the firm support of the Chinese people. The Harvard Kennedy School's surveys in China which extended 13 years suggest that over 93 percent of the Chinese people are satisfied with the central government which is led by the CPC. Those who attempt to break this strong bond is making themselves enemies of the 1.4 billion Chinese people.

China's economic development and resilience has secured the country to tide over the COVID-19 epidemic and stand against unilateralism and trade bullying. Global credit rating agency Moody's has raised its growth forecast for the Chinese economy this year to 1.9 percent from 1 percent earlier, its only upward revision for the 2020 growth of major economies.

China also draws strength from history. A memorial hall commemorating the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953) reopened on Saturday in northeast China's Liaoning Province, as the country marks the 70th anniversary of Chinese volunteers entering the Korean Peninsula to fight the war. The reopening came as a reminder that China will never bow to bullying by any country and all the forces who run against the trend of peace and development are merely "paper tigers."

Seventy years ago, the United States fought the war at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong rival because it made wrong judgement on the world's situation and underestimated China's determination to fight for the state sovereignty, national interests and world peace. Now Washington's hardliners on China are repeating historical mistakes, which will lead to a high price for them to pay.

The Chinese people love peace, advocate justice and long for progress. They will continue to deepen their exchanges and cooperation with all peace-loving people across the world, including the American people.

As the world is entering a period of turbulence and change due to the rise of unilateralism, hegemony and power politics, China will work with all the countries to champion multilateralism, safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, defend the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Editor: Wang Shixue