Kevin McCarthy (File photo from BBC)
The US House of Representatives passed a resolution on January 10, local time, to form the China Select Committee in response to the so-called multi-faceted threats posed by Beijing. Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, responded on January 11 that “we hope the relevant US politicians view China and the China-US relations in an objective and reasonable light, proceed from the US’s own interests and the common interests of China and the US, head toward the same direction with China, and promote the development of the China-US relations based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation”.
The second resolution adopted by the 118th House of Representatives of the US Congress was starkly targeted at China – the elements of a political show cannot be more conspicuous. As a house speaker who has only been elected – after a manner – after 15 rounds of voting through four days, McCarthy’s eagerness to take a tough line against China was to show that he was honoring what he promised before the midterm election and to appease the most radical and extreme Republicans who have been against his election. The political stagecraft is just too obvious.
The resolution to form a select committee on China was cleared at the lower house with a sweeping majority. In a country of extreme political polarization and intense inter-party opposition, the Democrats and the Republicans’ only common ground falls on the China issue is full proof of how desperately anxious the political circle in Washington feels about China. This “unity” between the two parties may very well push the China-US relationship to a more dangerous situation.
Consistently jeopardizing the China-US relationship will backfire on the US itself. So far the tariff war started by the US government has caused its agriculture, retail sales, manufacturing, businesses and consumers more than US$134 billion of losses. A report released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics in October 2022 showed that the tariff war has harmed American manufacturing, employment and export and to some extent crippled American companies’ competitiveness both at home and in the international market. In his article titled “On China, Congress Is Its Own Worst Enemy”, Bloomberg’s columnist Mihir Sharma said the American walls have cost US businesses billions. While the whole world has recognized the importance of globalization for improving their competitiveness and boosting their prosperity, too many American politicians have unfortunately forgotten that.
The anti-China stunt pulled by American politicians is against the historical trend of peace, development and win-win cooperation. The dilemma facing the China-US relationship today should be fully attributed to the “Cold War mentality” that American politicians find it so hard to let go. It’s high time that Uncle Sam, still indulged in major country confrontations and the fantasy of a “Cold War winner”, woke up to the new reality.
Editor's note: Originally published on opinion.haiwainet.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
