Any US policy to end engagement with China doomed to fail, says expert

 Any new US policy to end or drastically reduce engagement with China is doomed to fail, an Indian expert has said.

   "If the US could not continue isolating China 50 years ago, how can it isolate and contain China now, in 2020, when China has become far stronger and the world has become far more interconnected and interdependent?" said Sudheendra Kulkarni, former chairman of Mumbai-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

   "It is unfortunate that some high officials of the U.S. government, in particular Secretary of State Mr. Mike Pompeo, are not only showing disrespect to the history of China-US relations but are actually falsifying it," Kulkarni said.

   "Pompeo is rewriting history with a pen filled with the ink of lies and falsehoods" by claiming that the U.S. policy of engagement with China over the past five decades has failed and that the engagement has proved to be detrimental to America and the rest of the so-called "free" world, Kulkarni said.

   Noting that it was ironic for Pompeo to utter these lies in a speech delivered at the Nixon Library in California, the expert also said Pompeo even falsified former US President Richard Nixon's own bold and well-considered decision to begin diplomatic engagement with China with his historic visit to Beijing in 1971.

   The move by Nixon and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger was clearly an outcome of their own careful reassessment and recognition of the historical truth that the US policy of isolating China was counter-productive, unhelpful and hurtful to America's own interests, Kulkarni said.

   Pompeo's rhetoric is "patently illogical," Kulkarni said, adding that President Donald Trump's "China-bashing" policy, his main plank for seeking re-election, isn't bringing credit to American democracy.

   Noting that the United States and China have two different political and governance systems, Kulkarni said it is the sovereign right of every nation to adopt and follow a political and governance system that best suits its needs and has legitimacy in the eyes of its people.

   "No country has the right to impose its system on others," he said. "Nor is it possible for the entire world to adopt the 'one shoe-size fits all' or 'one single system is good for all' approach."

   The expert stressed that all the countries should respect differences and find a way to work together in harmony for mutual good and for the good of the world at large, as well as develop the mindset of mutual learning.

   "A closed mindset or a mindset of superiority goes against the fundamental driving force of human evolution," he added.

   "Both the United States and China should manage their differences in a responsible and coordinated manner. Without this, there will be negative consequences not only for US-China relations, but also for world peace, stability and development."

   Refuting Pompeo's call for "a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies" against China, Kulkarni said the world needs a universal alliance of all nations to strengthen global peace and unity, and enhance global connectivity and cooperation, as well as the culture of mutual respect, mutual learning, and harmonious co-existence despite differences.

   "This is the age of globalization, which is an irreversible trend of modern human history," he said. "There can be no place for 'decoupling' and 'disengagement' in the world of the 21st century."

   "If some people in the United States think that it can forever remain the supreme or sole leader in technological innovation, they are clearly mistaken," he added.

   Kulkarni said the world today is becoming "flat," as the digital revolution has provided the tools to big and small countries alike to make innovations that can benefit the entirety of humankind.

   No country has the right to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries, he said, adding that this is one of the main tenets of "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence."

   Kulkarni noted that it is unfortunate that the deteriorating of US-China relations has come at a time when the global community is experiencing terrible effects of two unprecedented crises -- the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant economic crisis.

   "This is the time for all the countries, especially rich and powerful countries, to come together in a spirit of global solidarity to help one another, and especially help the most vulnerable sections of the global population," he said, adding that this is not the time for confrontation.