16 Wednesday August 7, 2019
FORUM
There is a psychological theory: “Your
perception of others reveals so much
about your own personality.”
When US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo visited Australia for the annual
Australia-US Ministerial Consultations,
he, unsurprisingly, attacked China once
again on the issues of the South China
Sea and the China-proposed Belt and
Road Initiative.
“We also stand firmly against a dis-
turbing pattern of aggressive behavior,
destabilizing behavior, from China,” he
said.
Facts speak louder than words, and
history will show whose behavior is
more aggressive and more destabilizing.
The Congressional Research Service
in the US, known as Congress’s think
tank, had a report listing instances of
the use of US Armed Forces abroad
between 1798 and 2019, which was up-
dated on July 17.
“This report lists hundreds of instanc-
es in which the US has used its Armed
Forces abroad in situations of military
conflict or potential conflict or for other
than normal peacetime purposes,” reads
the report.
The US claimed that it was trying
to save lives with military intervention,
only to plunge countries like Libya and
Iraq in predicament.
Libya once recorded favorable growth
rates, with an estimated 10.6 percent
growth of GDP in 2010.
In 2011, however, the US pushed
for military intervention in the country.
Seven years later, Libya’s per capita GDP
only stood at 60 percent of its pre-war
levels. In the words of UK’s special en-
voy to Libya, Jonathan Powell, the coun-
try has become a “Somalia on the Medi-
terranean.”
Similar things happened in other
countries as well.
“In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya,
Washington toppled regimes and thenfailed to plan for a new government or
construct effective local forces – with
the net result being over 7,000 dead US
soldiers, tens of thousands of injured
troops, trillions of dollars expended, un-
told thousands of civilian fatalities, and
three Islamic countries in various states
of disorder,” said an article titled “The
Legacy of Obama’s ‘Worst Mistake’” car-
ried by The Atlantic on April 15, 2016.
Pompeo also reportedly accused Chi-
na of using “predatory economics” and
“debt” to reach savage deals with Pacific
Island and other nations.
Tonga’s Prime Minister Akilisi Po-
hiva has clarified that “China has never
claimed to collect the debts or take the
assets from Tonga in any way, and the
governments of Tonga and China have
maintained contacts regarding the re-
payment of the concessional loans.”
Ranil Wickremesinghe, prime minis-
ter of Sri Lanka, has also publicly stated
that “Sri Lanka was not falling into adebt trap caused by... Chinese loans” nor
“ceding control of strategically vital ports
to Chinese control.”
It is hard to talk to someone, who,
sticking to his own theories, always
turns a deaf ear to you.
Earlier this year, the US, with the
trade tensions underway, forced the EU
to agree to a large chunk of international
beef import quota exclusively for US
products. The result was a dwindling al-
location for others like Australia, which
was previously the largest user of the
quota.
Think carefully. Do you really want a
so-called friend and ally like the US?The article is a commentary from
the Xinhua News Agency. opinion@
globaltimes.com.cnPage Editor:
[email protected]New US tariffs cannot Trump China
History shows world needs to guard against a bully that Washington is
By William Jones
U
S President Donald
Trump’s rash measure
of imposing a new 10
percent tariff on Chinese goods
on top of the 25 percent already
levied threatens to hurt the US
economy. It may also create a
major blowout in international
financial markets. In addition,
this attempt to play hardball
with the Chinese side in these
all too important discus-
sions could totally poison the
atmosphere for amicable talks
with China on any issue in the
future.
It is highly unlikely that
China will buckle to such high-
handed tactics. China is proud
of the accomplishments it has
made during the last 40 years
of reform and opening-up. But
the attempt by the US to force
China to entirely abandon its
successful industrial policy
poses an existential threat to
the world’s second largest
economy.
For the real reason the
US economy is in such dire
straits – in contrast to what
the president seems to believe,
the US economy today is
not a “success story” – is not
because of trade with China.
For decades now, we have
been living off the unique role
of the US dollar, which had
become “good as gold” in the
eyes of the world when former
president Richard Nixon took
the US off the gold standard,
and we have simply decided
to purchase cheaply from the
poorer low-wage countries of
the world, rather than produc-
ing things ourselves, thus
abandoning our industries, our
infrastructure, and our workers
and farmers.
Look at the state of our cit-
ies, roads, and highways. They
are a disaster. And how are
tariffs on China going to solve
that problem? Look at Detroit.
It’s coming back. But why?
Because China has invested
heavily in its future. By starting
a trade war, do you think those
Chinese investors are going
to remain bullish on the US
and new Chinese investment
continue to come to the US?
That is highly unlikely.
Without a doubt, China will
suffer because of the tariffs.
But China and its people have
learned to survive in adverse
circumstances, particularly
during the period prior to the
reform and opening-up when
it was shunned by the rest
of the world. But the tariffs
will also wreak havoc on the
US economy. In a polarized
economy in which 10 percent
of the wealthiest earns more
than the lower 80 percent;
that lower 80 percent which
purchases most of its goods atplaces like Walmart and Target,
will see their budgets bloat. It
will be a sizeable tax on the US
consumer, who will ultimately
have to pay for the president’s
new tariffs.
More ominous will be the
effect the subsequent turmoil
will have on the US – and
world – financial markets. In-
vestors breathed a sigh of relief
when the latest trade talks were
announced. Now they may
head for the exits. And contrary
to what the president seems to
believe, the financial markets
are highly leveraged. The
New York-London financial
system has become a virtual
casino, creating new – and
unpayable – debt out of thin
air. The slightest blip can send
markets tumbling, making the
2008 financial blowout look
like child’s play. The Smoot–
Hawley Tariff Act contributed
largely to the last Great Depres-
sion. One hopes that Trump
does not turn out to be another
Herbert Hoover who took the
fall for the biggest economicmalaise in modern times.
And it has become some-
thing of a truism that the
relationship between China
and the US is the most
important relationship in
the world, regardless of the
perspective you are viewing it
from – economically, socially,
politically or militarily. Does
the president really want to
throw a monkey-wrench into
that relationship and poison
the well for further discus-
sions on issues of strategic
and economic importance?
The Chinese have proven
themselves to be very patient,
but that patience also has a
limit. You cannot treat them
as a competitor in a real estate
deal, who might be blackballed
into submission. China is in
fact a real world power.
And the economic bully-
ing together with the various
machinations that US NGOs
like the National Endowment
for Democracy are conducting
in places like Hong Kong, pro-
moting something similar to a
color revolution and in which
the Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo has also weighed in,
can only create the view among
the 1.4 billion Chinese that the
US is in fact their enemy.
If the president really
wants to rebuild the flagging
US economy, its industries,
infrastructure, and manufac-
turing capabilities, he must
return to the orientation that
characterized the US in its
more productive days. Let’s
move forward with the Moon
to Mars program of NASA
as outlined in the Artemis
program. Bring back the spirit
of progress and a belief in new
scientific achievements. Andlet’s do it together with China.
They have landed where no
one else has, on the far side of
the moon, and they are willing
to share the knowledge they
have gained in this endeavor.
And let’s get our roads, our
highways and our rail systems
back in shape. And in this
endeavor, China can help as
well. Follow Hamilton’s lead
and create an infrastructure
bank or infrastructure fund to
promote investment in infra-
structure. I’ll bet you can bring
Chinese investment into such
an undertaking. They have cre-
ated more infrastructure than
any other country in the world
at this point, and I’m sure they
would be willing to share their
knowledge.
But if the president contin-
ues in the direction he is head-
ing with the new tariffs to be
imposed on September 1, we
are looking at tremendous tur-
moil for the foreseeable future
and the danger of a greater
conflict ahead between the two
most powerful countries in the
world. The president claims
that the tariffs are bringing in
lots of money, but none of this
is going into the pockets of
ordinary Americans, who will
in fact pay more for everything
they purchase. And while we
still have some months to go,
I’m sure that Trump does not
want to end up as the Grinch
who stole Christmas for mil-
lions of Americans.The author is the Washington
Bureau Chief for Executive
Intelligence Review and a Non-
resident Fellow of the Chongyang
Institute for Financial Studies at
Renmin University. opinion@
globaltimes.com.cnIllustration: Liu Rui/GT