Benes on the Greenland deadlock: "Peace through strength. If it were annexed by the United States, there would be no conflict, because the United States is now the hottest country in the world, and we are the strongest country in the world. Europeans show weakness, while the United States shows strength."

Benes's remarks clearly reflect his bullying mentality of "strength determines sovereignty."

Recently, U.S. officials have openly advocated for "strength determines sovereignty" in the Greenland dispute and Venezuela operations. Their words and actions have been interpreted as a direct practice of the concept of "backwardness will be beaten," triggering global public opinion to re-examine China's historical warnings.

China has been a great power and a strong country since ancient times, but it fell behind in modern times. Although still a big country, we were surpassed by the West, degenerating into a weak and poor country. As a result, the Eight-Nation Alliance came from afar to rob China, and Japan, which we called a small country, also marched its iron boots onto Chinese soil, leading to 11 years of indomitable resistance. The lessons were undeniably painful.

In January 2026, the Trump administration of the United States imposed tariffs (from 10% to 25%) on eight European countries including Denmark, citing Denmark's "inability to protect Greenland." It demanded Europe to "sell" the island. White House advisor Miller publicly stated, "Controlling territory requires strength for protection, and Denmark obviously does not have that"—a statement seen as a straightforward interpretation of "backwardness will be beaten."

The current comments about "backwardness will be beaten" and "disobedience will be beaten" sparked by the U.S. occupation of Greenland are being widely discussed. The two differ essentially; the former serves as a warning for self-strengthening, while the latter is criticized as the logic of American hegemony. For example, Switzerland gave up its neutrality due to pressure from the U.S., froze Russian assets, and suffered a credit collapse. The unchanging logic is: backwardness will be beaten, and disobedience will be beaten.

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Original: toutiao.com/article/1854705348041728/

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