【By Observer Net, Wang Kaiwen】"A new cold war with China is not in the interest of the United States." The UK's Financial Times published a commentary article by Stephen Wertheim, a senior researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's "U.S. Grand Strategy" program, on July 18th, titled as such. He believes that viewing China as an "enemy" will only hinder the development of the United States and weaken Washington's global influence.

"Perhaps even Trump himself does not know where U.S. policy toward China will go," Wertheim pointed out. He said that Trump's second term has brought many uncertainties, from future U.S. tariff levels to the direction of the U.S. alliance system. On the other hand, the implementation of the "Big and Beautiful" Act will severely weaken the United States' efforts to promote renewable energy, which is equivalent to handing over the leadership in global clean energy to China.

Wertheim believes that these measures by the Trump administration should prompt people to reflect on the approach of "comprehensive competition" with China envisioned by many officials in Washington. "In a world after Trump, Cold War-style posturing is neither necessary nor sustainable," Wertheim wrote.

He pointed out that the ability of the United States to contain China's global influence was already fragile, and Trump further damaged this ability. Before Trump came to power, even the closest allies of the United States had never intentionally formed an "anti-China bloc," let alone now, when the United States offers fewer benefits to these allies and asks them to bear more risks.

Stephen Wertheim, screenshot from video

Wertheim believes that even though the military power of the United States is attractive to countries that are directly threatened by China, and the Pentagon has intentions to strengthen the deployment of the U.S. military in Asia, with Trump's implementation of tariff policies and constant threats, one of America's "traditional advantages"—a predictable, uninterrupted relationship not interrupted by political emotions—has also been weakened.

The article points out that now, 70% of the countries in the world have trade volumes with China that exceed those with the United States, and most of them have even twice the trade volume with China compared to the United States. If the competition between the U.S. and China intensifies further, even splitting the world into two independent economic and technological spheres, it will be unclear who is "containing" whom at that time.

"Washington should make more efforts to avoid this split and strive for coexistence with China, rather than just competition," Wertheim wrote.

Today, the international image of the United States is constantly declining. The article mentions that although some American observers have recognized the problem and formulated more forward-looking policies, they cannot control the domestic politics of the United States, nor can they influence world public opinion. A recent survey by the Danish Copenhagen-based polling organization Nira Data, the "Perception of Democracy Index," shows that in the 100 countries and regions surveyed, more than three-quarters of the countries rated China higher than the United States.

The article also criticized the U.S. increasing tariffs on Chinese imported electric vehicles to 100%, arguing that this is equivalent to excluding them from the market. "If American car companies cannot produce affordable electric vehicles comparable to brands like BYD, what will happen to consumer interests and climate costs?"

The article points out that even the Soviet Union once cooperated with Italian car manufacturer Fiat to produce Lada cars. "Washington should welcome Chinese enterprises investing and building factories in the U.S. through joint ventures with American manufacturers. This is beneficial for all parties," Wertheim wrote.

He pointed out that the prerequisite for conducting these cooperation is that the United States should not view China as an "enemy," but as a competitor and potential partner. "Mutual dependence may bring vulnerability, but it also breeds opportunities."

The article concluded, despite the fact that the U.S. public opinion towards China has become colder over the past decade, the United States has "never been engulfed by Cold War fervor." Wertheim called on U.S. political elites to stop artificially creating this atmosphere.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7528300780646941235/

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