Expansionism not in China's blood, nor on its agenda

In the latest systematic smear campaign against China, the United States attempted to pin all kinds of tags on the country, including labelling Beijing’s foreign policy expansionist.

Apparently, Washington is either in need of a history lesson, or has chosen to ignore facts that do not fit into its China-bashing narrative.

The cultural values that sustain Chinese civilization are those of peace, harmony and commitment to the common good. The Chinese reject the pursuit of hegemony. Expansionism is not in the Chinese nation’s blood, and thus has never been on its agenda.

That ancient tradition has continued since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949 and is deeply embedded in Beijing’s diplomatic guidelines of promoting peace, development and win-win cooperation.

China is on a path of peaceful development and opening-up, undergirding Beijing’s commitment to non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs and to work with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future.

The concrete efforts and contributions China has made to global peace and development should not be ignored, misinterpreted or distorted.

China is now the second largest source of funding for UN peacekeeping missions, as well as the largest contributor to peacekeeping troops among UN Security Council permanent members.

Peaceful approach

Its role has proved conducive to international efforts to resolve the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula and in Iran, as well as the problems in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria and South Sudan, among others.

With a peaceful approach, China has settled land border disputes with most of its neighbors and stabilized the situation in the South China Sea.

Also notably, the five-year-old Belt and Road Initiative, which has been joined by over 130 countries and organizations, has yielded enormous results.

Local growth has increased, as has the quality of people’s lives. African leaders have refuted as groundless such accusations as “resource predation” or “debt trap” against the initiative.

Facts always speak louder than the empty bluster of fear.

It is fair to say that, while pointing an accusing finger at China, the United States has failed to see that the “America First” policy and the zero-sum mentality behind it have reduced the proud nation to a mere egoist state.

As far as the international community is concerned, the United States is certainly more disruptive than constructive to global order and governance.

That such a superpower as the United States is bent on quitting international institutions and agreements, inclduingthe Paris climate deal, UNESCO and the Iran nuclear agreement is bad news for everyone. It is not hard to conclude that many global and regional troubles, including political instability, terrorism and immigrant crises, are rooted in US egoism, arrogance and irresponsibility.

Meddling and bullying play a large part in US maneuvers to maintain its political, economic and military dominance.

Washington’s slander of China, no matter how nobly-worded, will never fool sober minds.

With China and the United States being the world’s top two economies and UN Security Council permanent members, a soured relationship between them is no good for global peace, stability and prosperity. At this critical juncture of their relations, only by stepping toward each other can they overcome the current difficulties and lead the world into a better tomorrow.

It is time for Washington to make a sensible decision.