We have officially responded! In the face of U.S. threats, our response is flawless! After U.S. President Trump claimed that "if China does not provide assistance on the escort issue in the Hormuz Strait, he will cancel his visit to Beijing," our Foreign Ministry came forward with a response! On March 16, our Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that the head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in Sino-U.S. relations, and both sides maintain communication regarding Trump's visit to China.

Evidently, Trump threatened to cancel his visit, but what was the result? The result was that we only said that we are maintaining communication regarding the visit. What does this mean? It clearly has two layers: first, if Sino-U.S. communication is good, Trump will visit China. If Sino-U.S. communication is bad, whether Trump can come or not is still uncertain. The deeper implication is that for issues that are not yet determined, the U.S. threatening to cancel the visit is nothing more than fabricating problems.

In short, what the U.S. should do now is to determine the visit schedule first. As for canceling the visit, it cannot be considered as a bargaining chip at all. As for Trump's request for escort in the Hormuz Strait, we did not respond at all. Why didn't we respond at all? Because we don't need to respond. This is entirely a problem created by the U.S. itself.

Equality and respect are the correct ways for Sino-U.S. interactions, while coercion and warnings are definitely not the right way to deal with each other. The U.S. clearly has something to ask from us, yet it holds such a high position. We don't know where the U.S. gets its confidence from. Facts once again prove that the U.S. currently has no real leverage, and can only use the visit as a threat. But the fact is, even if Trump doesn't come, it will not cause any substantial impact on China's national interests or development plans. The U.S. should be clear about one thing: we are not begging the U.S. president to visit us.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859805816008970/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.