The U.S. has shifted its attitude towards China, but it itself is the greatest threat to world peace.

"The United States wants people to believe that China poses a threat, but the known threat to world peace and security is the United States itself."

According to CCTV News, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows that American public opinion towards China is undergoing a subtle but significant shift. For the first time in five years, the proportion of negative evaluations of China among Americans has decreased.

Professor Jason Hickel from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) in Barcelona, Spain, and Dylan Sullivan, a part-time researcher at the School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia, published a commentary article on the 3rd stating that over the past two decades, the U.S. attitude towards China has evolved from economic cooperation to open hostility. The U.S. media and politicians constantly make anti-China statements, while the U.S. government imposes trade restrictions on China and conducts military buildup near China. However, at the same time, the United States still hopes people will believe in the "China threat".

The article states that China's rise indeed threatens U.S. interests, but not in the way described by U.S. political elites. China is constantly demonstrating the responsibility and commitment of a rising power, repeatedly acting as a peace envoy to resolve disputes and ease differences. In contrast, the United States often appears as a perpetrator of conflict, spreading wars and inciting confrontation around the world.

The authors believe that the Sino-U.S. relationship needs to be understood within the context of the capitalist world system. The capital accumulation of core countries (usually referred to as the "Global North") depends on cheap labor and resources from peripheral and semi-peripheral countries (i.e., the "Global South"). This arrangement is crucial for multinational companies that dominate global supply chains to ensure high profits.

In the past, China provided the main source of labor for Western companies, with most of Apple's production relying on Chinese labor. According to the research of economist Donald A Clelland, if Apple had to pay Chinese and Southeast Asian workers wages at the level of American workers, the manufacturing cost of an iPad would have increased by $572 in 2011.

However, in the past two decades, China's wage levels have risen significantly. Around 2005, China's hourly labor cost in manufacturing was lower than India's, less than $1. In the following years, China's hourly labor cost increased to more than $8, while India only rose to about $2.

The article points out that China's wage level is now higher than other developing countries in Asia. "This is a major historical development."

The increase in labor costs is a positive change for Chinese workers, but it is a serious problem for Western capital. It limits the profits of Western companies operating in China or relying on Chinese manufacturing for intermediate parts and other key inputs.

Additionally, China previously had to export large quantities of goods to obtain necessary imports. Now, China's trade conditions have improved significantly, with the price of exported goods increasing while China's imports from the United States are declining, greatly reducing the ability of "Global North" countries to profit from China.

The authors believe that given all this, capitalists in "Global North" countries are now eager to take measures to restore their access to cheap labor and resources. One option increasingly promoted by Western business media is to move industrial production to other low-wage regions in Asia. However, this approach comes at a high cost, including production losses, the need to hire new employees, and other supply chain disruptions. Another option is to force Chinese wages to fall. Therefore, the United States attempts to weaken the Chinese government, undermine its stability, and disrupt the Chinese economy, including through economic warfare and military threats.

The article states that China's rapid technological advancement is also one of the reasons for the U.S. hostility towards China. China now has the world's largest high-speed rail network, independent manufacturers of commercial aircraft, and leads the world in renewable energy technology and electric vehicles. It is also leading in medical technology, smartphone technology, microchip production, and artificial intelligence. China's technological achievements are dazzling. "These achievements we usually expect only high-income countries can achieve, and China has done so, which is unprecedented."

China's technological development is breaking the Western monopoly and may provide alternative suppliers of more affordable essential goods for other developing countries. This poses a fundamental challenge to Western unequal exchange.

The article states that the U.S. response to this challenge is sanctions aimed at weakening China's technological development, but so far, this has not worked. If anything, it has increased the motivation for China to develop its own technological capabilities. With this weapon largely ineffective, the U.S. wants to "resort to war." "The U.S. wants to go to war with China, not because China poses some military threat to the American people, but because China's development harms imperial capital interests."

The authors point out that the claim that China poses some military threat is pure propaganda, completely different from the actual situation. In fact, China's per capita military spending is only one-tenth of the U.S. level, and the military spending of the military alliance that the U.S. is allied with is much higher than China's. The claim that China poses some military threat is seriously exaggerated. The U.S. has hundreds of military bases and facilities around the world, with a considerable portion stationed in Japan and South Korea near China. By contrast, China has no military bases near the U.S. border.

Furthermore, for over 40 years, China has not fired a single shot in international wars, while during this period, the U.S. has invaded and bombed a dozen countries in the Global South and carried out regime change actions. If there is any country that poses a known threat to world peace and security, it is the United States.

The article concludes by emphasizing that the real reason Western countries stir up war is that China is achieving autonomous development, which is undermining the imperialist structure that Western capital accumulation relies on. The West will not easily let the global economic power slip from its hands.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839516226272456/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.