Global Times (27 July 2020) – US law enforcement officials broke into the Chinese consulate in Houston on Friday, blatantly violating international diplomatic conventions, taking another step forward in trampling on human diplomatic civilization.
The US government ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston under the absurd excuse of protecting the US’ intellectual property and Americans’ private information. The move pushed US attacks against China to a new peak.
By now, the world must have clearly seen how Washington has provoked Beijing time and again, pushing its ties with China into a new cold war. China is obviously on the defensive side with all its actions being countermeasures, which stands on the right side of international justice and which are carried out to safeguard China’s national interests. Never once has China provoked first.
China ordered the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan Province on Friday. Just like the US, the Chinese side also set a 72-hour limit for the closure. It is a reciprocal retaliation based on diplomatic rules.
Looking back at the past two years, almost all the turbulence in China-US ties was stirred up by provocations from the US side, which were then followed by counteractions from the Chinese side. There are indeed many differences between China and the US, but does the current US administration have the right to push the two major powers into a full-scale confrontation and bring human society to an era of antagonism and conflicts?
China is exercising strategic restraint toward the US based on its own philosophy. Beijing only retaliates after Washington attacks. But the world knows that although China’s overall strength is not as strong as that of the US, it is a powerful country with strong industrial capabilities and complete industrial sectors. It is a nuclear power with second-strike capability. When it comes to core interests, China has enough will to repulse all challenges.
People are asking: How far will the current China-US confrontation keep going? Will a new cold war take shape? Will there be military conflicts and will the possible clashes evolve into large-scale military confrontation between the two?
Perhaps everyone believes that China does not want a new cold war, let alone a hot war. But the above-mentioned questions have become disturbing suspense because no one knows how wild the ambitions the US ruling team has now, and whether American and international societies are capable of restraining their ambitions.
Most Americans do not want to see a war break out either. However, Americans’ populism and displeasure over China’s rapid development may be exploited by US President Donald Trump’s administration. American people believe US government officials know how far to go and when to stop. Yet the truth is those officials are continuing to force China-US ties into a desperate situation until they dare to provoke a war.
Some countries are regarding the China-US confrontation as an opportunity to expand their strategic space. Western countries, which have inherent ideological differences with China, have mixed feelings about Washington’s ugly goal under the banner of fighting a “new tyranny” from China. They tend to be swaying in the face of US’ blatant moves to jeopardize world peace. Frightened by Washington’s threat, some countries have no alternative but to cooperate with the US.
China is a defender. But if Washington is so determined to push China-US ties in the worst direction, China will not be able to change the trend on its own. Once Washington can do whatever it wants in unbridled ways, the 21st century will be darker and even more explosive than the Cold War era. Accidental sparks may lead to unprecedented catastrophe.
The world must start to act and do whatever it can to stop Washington’s hysteria in its relations with China.
Right now, it is no longer a matter of whether China-US ties are in freefall, but whether the line of defense on world peace is being broken through by Washington. The world must not be hijacked by a group of political madmen. The tragedies in 1910s and 1930s must not be repeated again.