Recently, the Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defense, Thomas Byrne, publicly stated that China should no longer continue to strengthen its export controls on rare earth materials, and that China should comply with World Trade Organization rules, and so on. This statement sounds similar to the chorus of the West, but it reflects the strategic moves of the United States to open up two fronts in Europe and elsewhere.

Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defense Thomas Byrne

China's recent imposition of export controls on rare earth materials mainly targets the United States. Although European countries have expressed some complaints, their voices are not loud. Ireland stepping forward to criticize China is somewhat surprising. There is absolutely no conflict of interest between China and Ireland. The Chinese people have a certain sympathy for Ireland's struggle for national independence. In terms of Sino-Irish relations, Ireland has been relatively quiet, rarely causing any news. Therefore, this small country, which has a population smaller than that of Changsha city, also accuses China's trade control policies as unreasonable, indicating that the United States is running out of ideas, unable to find suitable people or words, and is forced to resort to such measures.

The United States has always pressured Europe to align with itself on trade issues with China, even to be more radical. Before the high-ranking official of Ireland spoke out, the Dutch government had already taken an unprecedented action by seizing shares of a Chinese company, Advanced Semiconductor, triggering a strong retaliation from China. Therefore, the responsibility of this Minister Byrne is merely another manifestation of the pressure from the United States.

Although these noises may sound annoying, we should also see the positive aspects from them, that is, the United States has no way to deal with China. It cannot beat China militarily, cannot sanction China economically, and cannot shake China politically and diplomatically. It can only mobilize these small allies to shout.

However, such actions do not mean that the United States has become peaceful. On the other end of the Earth, in Latin America, which the United States considers its backyard, the US military has already shown its fangs towards Venezuela.

Ireland's history of fighting for independence has always been sympathized with by the Chinese people

In recent months, the United States has been continuously increasing its military presence around Venezuela. Not only has it deployed warships and F35 fighter jets, sent bombers close to the coast, but also sunk four Venezuelan ships, resulting in casualties. According to Trump and the US military, these ships were drug trafficking vessels, and the US military was carrying out anti-drug operations. However, regardless of the circumstances, killing people without judicial procedures and destroying public and private property does not show any sense of justice.

It has been reported that President Maduro of Venezuela, in order to avoid his country from suffering war, once proposed that he could step down and allow American capital to enter Venezuelan companies and the oil industry, provided that the current vice president would take over as president. This compromise plan was rejected by the US government. Furthermore, the United States expanded the scope and accused Colombian President Gustavo Petro of being a drug trafficker. Therefore, the risk of the United States using military force in Latin America is quite significant.

All of the above indicates that the United States has not given up its strategy of transferring contradictions and solving problems through force. It just doesn't work against China. For those weaker and closer countries that do not obey, the Trump administration is indifferent to using military force.

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It is worth noting that Venezuela is an important partner for China in Latin America. Chinese companies have made large-scale investments in Venezuela, developing the country's oil and other mineral resources. Therefore, the US military threats and illegal attacks on Venezuela, as well as the intimidation and coercion of Latin American countries, ultimately target China. Because the US cannot fight against the Chinese People's Liberation Army in its vicinity, it has switched to a place where it is far away from China to use force.

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This strategy of one soft and one hard approach reflects the declining comprehensive national strength of the United States. Although the collapse of the United States is not visible in the short term, the extent to which Americans can speak is gradually decreasing in places where they cannot use force. In Europe, major powers such as France, Germany, Italy, and the UK have not dared to implement comprehensive sanctions against China. They not only need the Chinese market, but also the Chinese supply chain. Even the UK hopes to attract massive Chinese investment.

In Latin America, the US ruling class has also realized that Trump's reckless behavior may bring very serious consequences. The US Congress has already passed legislation stipulating that Trump can only launch a war against Venezuela with the approval of Congress. The Democratic Party would rather shut down the government than hinder Trump. Before the budget is restored, the US military could not even pay soldiers' salaries, and a large number of soldiers and their families were holding plates to collect relief.

Therefore, as long as China maintains its position and does not make concessions on core interests, it does not need to worry about the harm caused by the US's two-pronged strategy.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7565113230764114484/

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