Falsehoods in US Perceptions of China

Bill Totten's Weblog Reality Check (Part 3 of 21) Falsehoods in US Perceptions of China https://english.news.cn (June 19 2022) Part 2 is at https://billtotten.wpcomstaging.com/2022/06/29/reality-check-part-2-of-21/ Falsehood 3 US diplomacy is based on partnership and respect for each other’s interests, while China practices coercive diplomacy against other countries and retaliates recklessly. Our task is to prove once again that all countries will be free to chart their own paths without coercion. Reality Check It is the US that invented “coercive diplomacy” and excels at coercing countries. Over the years, by imposing economic blockades, unilateral sanctions, and other means, the US has practiced coercive diplomacy around the world with textbook examples. * In 1971, American scholar Alexander George first put forward the concept of “coercive diplomacy” to summarize the US policy toward Laos, Cuba, and Vietnam at that time. The US government forced the military government of Haiti to step down in 1994, and referred to that as “a textbook example of coercive diplomacy”. In 2003, it explicitly characterized 30.3 billion US dollars in additional military expenses for “coercive diplomacy” as incurred expenses. The US government froze seven billion US dollars in assets of the Afghan central bank on the grounds of punishing the Afghan Taliban and even claimed the “life-saving money” of the Afghan people as its own, which resulted in the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. Mohammad Naeem, spokesman of the Taliban Political Office in Doha, said the seizure is “indicative of the lowest level of human and moral decay of a country and a nation”. In order to force the Nepalese parliament to approve the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement, the US openly issued an “ultimatum”, saying that the US will review its ties with Nepal if it fails to ratify the compact. After the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, the US Justice Department established the “Task Force KleptoCapture” to find, freeze, and seize the yachts, apartments, private jets, and huge deposits of Russian citizens in the US and Europe. This fully shows that the US-touted “inviolable and sacred right to property” is just a lie. The US has forced other countries to pick sides and pressured them to join sanctions against Russia. And those who refuse to do so will pay a “price”. After China and the Solomon Islands had signed a framework agreement on bilateral security cooperation, the US sent senior officials of the National Security Council to the country, doing whatever it can to obstruct the legitimate cooperation between China and Solomon Islands. A Solomon Star article pointed out, “Washington DC, which has literally forgotten the Solomon Islands since World War Two, has finally woken up and is applying the heat on the Solomon Islands to abandon the security pact”. In May 2022, on the eve of the High-Level Virtual Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the US exerted pressure on multiple UN development agencies to obstruct their attendance and threatened to “cut funding”. * The “Clean Network” program launched by the previous administration is another textbook example of US coercive diplomacy. Under the pretext of upholding US national security and citizens’ privacy, the program explicitly requires that Chinese companies such as Huawei, Baidu, and Alibaba be purged from five areas: telecom operators, mobile app stores, mobile apps, cloud services, and submarine optical cables. The then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other US politicians lobbied all around the world, coercing countries and regions to join its so-called “Network”. A US senior official even threatened Cyprus and other countries not to work with Chinese 5G suppliers, or they would bear the consequence. Former UK Business and Industry Minister Vince Cable said the government’s decision to ban Huawei’s 5G equipment and services “had nothing to do with national security”, and was because “the Americans told us we should do it”. * The US shows no mercy in coercing its allies. Out of its geopolitical and energy interests considerations, the US has imposed sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project since December 2019. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US has imposed new sanctions on related companies and personnel even though Germany had announced the suspension of the certification process for the project. * A US scholar pointed out that American foreign policy since World War Two has been based on a simple idea: “Either you are with us or against us. America should lead, allies should follow, and woe be to countries that oppose its primacy.” His words lay bare the nature of US coercive diplomacy. * China never engages in coercive diplomacy and firmly opposes coercive diplomacy by other countries. China never threatens other countries with force, never creates military alliances, never exports ideology, never meddles in others’ domestic affairs, never seeks a trade war, and never imposes unjustified oppression on foreign enterprises. That said, however, China has the right to make necessary and legitimate responses to actions that undermine China’s sovereignty, security, and development rights and interests. Source: fmprc.gov.cnEditor: huaxia2022-06-19 22:19:29 https://english.news.cn/20220619/edf2556087954b8d90440b077a3c3c21/c.html