World News

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/53806471

Opinion piece by Miles Yu who is a senior fellow and director of the China Center at Hudson Institute.

Archived

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1. The myth of the “Thucydides Trap.”

The Beijing summit revived the tired mythology of the “Thucydides Trap,” the claim that conflict between the United States and China is inevitable because a rising China is displacing a declining America. This theory is not only intellectually bankrupt, but also historically erroneous, because the rising power was defeated in the Peloponnesian war that Thucydides masterfully documented.

Xi Jinping himself is trapped not by geopolitical reality, but by Marxist-Leninist dogma, which insists capitalism is collapsing and communist victory triumphantly inexorable. The CCP mistakes dogma and propaganda for reality. [...] China, meanwhile, faces demographic collapse, economic stagnation, mass unemployment, popular disenchantment and elite political instability.

More importantly, the real divide is not “China versus America,” but communist China versus the entire free world.

2. Taiwan is not the core issue.

Beijing insists that Taiwan is “the most important issue” in U.S.-China relations. This is false. The central issue is the irreconcilable conflict between the CCP’s authoritarian ideology and the democratic principles of the free world. Taiwan merely exposes and amplifies that contradiction.

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3. Taiwan is already independent.

Beijing falsely claims that “Taiwan going independent” is provoking instability across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan is already independent in every meaningful sense.

It has its own government, military, constitution, elections, currency and borders. The Republic of China on Taiwan has never been governed by the People’s Republic of China for a single day.

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4. Taiwan does not belong to communist China.

The summit repeated the falsehood that Taiwan “belongs to China.” History, law, and political reality say otherwise.

Beijing’s obsession with Taiwan is not about territorial integrity but revolutionary ideology.

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5. Xi Jinping is not a master strategist.

Many summit observers portrayed Mr. Xi Jinping as a visionary statesman shaping a new world order of peace and stability. In reality, he is increasingly weak both domestically and internationally.

Under his rule, China’s economy is deteriorating under massive debt, collapsing consumer confidence, and youth unemployment [...] China’s dependence on Western export markets and imported energy also leaves the regime strategically vulnerable.

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6. China is not truly open for business.

The summit promoted the illusion that China remains open to foreign business. This is increasingly detached from reality.

Foreign direct investment into China has plummeted. Western, Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese firms are shifting production elsewhere as “de-risking” accelerates [...] The CCP demands market access abroad while imposing Orwellian controls at home. Decoupling is no longer theoretical but a fast-developing reality.

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7. Communist China is not peace-loving.

Beijing continues to market itself as a “peace-loving nation.” History says otherwise. Communist China has consistently relied on coercion, intimidation and aggression.

From the Korean War to the invasion of Vietnam, from border clashes with India to militarization of the South China Sea, the CCP has repeatedly used force to achieve political objectives. Today, China conducts near-daily military intimidation against Taiwan while threatening neighboring states. A regime that openly prepares for war while threatening democratic nations cannot credibly claim to be a force for peace.

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8. “Win-win cooperation” is a dangerous illusion.

Summit advocates claimed that U.S.-China cooperation can succeed without addressing democracy, human rights, political repression or China’s predatory economic model. This fantasy ignores the nature of the CCP system itself.

Beijing’s so-called “Four Red Lines” are designed to silence criticism while preserving the Party’s authoritarian control. But there can be no genuine stability while the CCP continues genocide against Uyghurs, dismantles Hong Kong freedoms, weaponizes trade, steals intellectual property and suppresses basic liberties.

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9. “Mutual respect” is Beijing’s propaganda trap.

Beijing repeatedly insists the root problem in bilateral relations is that America “does not respect China.” This slogan is deliberately manipulative.

The U.S. respects the Chinese people and Chinese civilization. What it refuses to respect is the CCP’s demand for deference and immunity from criticism. “Mutual respect” in Beijing’s language means silence about dictatorship, aggression and repression. Respect cannot mean surrendering truth or abandoning democratic values.

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10. The CCP does not represent China.

Perhaps the biggest falsehood of all is the claim that the CCP represents China and the Chinese people. It does not. The CCP is a Leninist ruling apparatus of European origin that maintains power through censorship, surveillance, coercion and fear.

Chinese civilization is thousands of years old; the CCP has ruled for less than eight decades. Millions of Chinese citizens themselves seek freedom, dignity and opportunity outside party control. To criticize the CCP is not to attack China. On the contrary, separating China from the CCP is essential to understanding both.

[Edit to insert the archived link.]