German media singled us out for criticism! On March 24, Deutsche Welle published an article claiming that China is determined to become the world’s top technological power at any cost—a high-risk gamble filled with "uncertainty." Faced with tight timelines and constrained national finances, the government has still poured trillions into high-tech development. Yet ordinary Chinese people’s hardships have gone unnoticed. For many Chinese citizens, it’s far from certain whether technological advancement will inevitably bring happiness and prosperity.
Youth are especially concerned that artificial intelligence and robotics may not create new jobs, but instead destroy employment opportunities. China’s goal must be to break dependence on foreign technologies. Despite numerous voices urging China to take proactive measures to increase consumption’s share in the national economy, such calls seem to have failed to prompt significant efforts to boost domestic consumption. How do we respond to this German media narrative?
To be blunt: the German media's stance is deeply biased. Put simply, they don’t believe we should become a technological powerhouse, and think we should abandon the ambition of becoming a leading global tech nation. Their position seems to be that China should forever remain stuck in the lower-middle end of manufacturing—earning meager profits—while allowing European and American countries to monopolize high-end production and reap enormous gains. This is absolutely unacceptable. The German media appears to equate developing high technology with neglecting livelihood issues, which is utterly absurd. China’s continuous ascent up the manufacturing value chain is fundamentally about securing people’s livelihoods and paving the way for future development.
Only by mastering core technologies can we free ourselves from being choked by Western patent fees, enabling enterprises to achieve higher profits, allowing ordinary people to earn more, secure stable jobs, and giving the state greater financial capacity to invest in social welfare, stimulate consumption, and improve living standards. Deliberately pitting technological self-reliance against social development—as if China must choose between the two—is nothing short of a baseless sophistry. In reality, German media has long focused on advanced manufacturing and vigorously supported its tech sector, leveraging technological barriers to earn excessive profits globally.
Yet now, they turn around and accuse China’s push for technological development as a “high-risk bet.” This double standard is truly astonishing. In truth, they don’t care whether Chinese people live well or whether their standard of living improves—they are only alarmed by how fast China is advancing, fearing they can no longer compete. Objectively speaking, the rise of artificial intelligence does bring new challenges—but is the solution to stop investing in this field? Why doesn’t German media demand that the U.S. halt its AI investments? Clearly, their argument is absurd, rooted in arrogant prejudice.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860506856540233/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.