[By Guancha Observer, Liu Chenghui]

On April 16th local time, former U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan criticized the Trump administration's China policy at an event.

Sullivan said that imposing tariffs has led to a series of negative consequences such as escalating trade disputes and failed to accurately balance America's medium-term interests. He said those who view Sino-U.S. relations with zero-sum thinking have not recognized the complexity and long-term development trajectory of the relationship.

He also believed that China will not collapse like the Soviet Union, and the two countries will continue to coexist, maintaining a controllable competitive state in the long term. Both sides need to avoid conflict and create opportunities for cooperation.

Sullivan attended an event at Harvard University. Left is Graham Allison, professor at Harvard University and the proposer of the Thucydides Trap. Harvard Kennedy School Social Media

"No matter how we compete, China and the U.S. will coexist."

Sullivan made the above remarks at an event held by Harvard University. This month, he joined the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a teacher. The Hong Kong English media South China Morning Post reported that this speech was one of the first extensive criticisms of the Trump administration's domestic and foreign policies by senior officials of the Biden administration.

Sullivan did not hide his dissatisfaction with Trump's policies.

"Someone in Washington might say, 'Jack, you're wrong. The ultimate result is that we win and they (China) lose, and we crush them,' but I believe these people's views cannot accurately balance America's medium-term interests and do not recognize a reasonable outcome beneficial to everyone."

"Coexistence with China" is a phrase mentioned multiple times by officials of the Biden administration during their tenure.

This time, Sullivan also mentioned that the U.S. leadership should realize that Sino-U.S. competition will not disappear and our opponents will not collapse in some way like the Soviet Union.

"No matter how the competition evolves, the two countries will continue to coexist," Sullivan said, "there is no ultimate result that can solve all problems, but there is a stable and controlled competitive state."

Sullivan also said that one of his proudest achievements was successfully managing Sino-U.S. competition, preventing it from escalating into conflict, maintaining and expanding communication channels, while creating space for cooperation on important issues between the two countries.

The report stated that like the Trump administration, the Biden administration adopted a tough stance toward China, but also focused on guardrails and prudent diplomacy to prevent a full-scale trade war or military confrontation, while emphasizing close cooperation with allies to address China's growing global influence.

Since taking office at the beginning of the year, the Trump administration has been overturning many projects promoted by Biden and Sullivan. For example, the White House now blames Ukraine for instigating conflict with Russia, becoming closer to Russia and alienating long-time allies of the United States, and attempting to meddle in European internal affairs.

Sullivan said that within less than 100 days of Trump taking office, the situation in the United States had changed significantly.

"I firmly believe that our alliances are stronger than when we first took office, our enemies and competitors are actually weaker and more scattered than when we first took office, the engine of American power is very strong, and we are not embroiled in war," he said. "As a strategic asset and liability handed over to the next administration, I am very proud of what we have handed over."

On the evening of April 15th local time, former U.S. President Biden delivered his first public speech after stepping down. He also said: "In less than 100 days, this new administration has caused so much destruction and devastation. It's shocking that such things happened so quickly."

In January, before the change of administration in the United States, Sullivan told The New York Times that he expressed similar views in an interview.

He acknowledged Trump's judgment of the long-term competitive situation between China and the U.S., but believed that its implementation had defects, did not attach importance to the role of allies, and suffered "major failures".

He also reiterated the concept of "managing competition", emphasizing that the United States must learn to coexist with China as a major country, must strive to cooperate with China on issues such as fentanyl, maintain dialogue with China, and manage competition to avoid conflict.

"When I talk about China, I mention two facts. One fact is that China is trying to surpass the United States economically, technologically, diplomatically, and militarily to become the world's leading power. But in the foreseeable future, we must also learn to coexist with China as a major country. This is reality," Sullivan said at that time.

"Trump wanted to isolate China through tariffs, which seems counterproductive."

According to sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported on April 15th that the Trump administration is pressuring nations coming to negotiate to take measures to economically isolate China in exchange for lowering U.S. trade and tariff barriers.

Those familiar with the matter said that U.S. officials proposed this idea early in negotiations with some countries. Trump himself hinted at this strategy on April 15th, when he suggested on the Spanish-language program of Fox News Network that they were considering asking countries to choose between the U.S. and China.

However, Sullivan dismissed this idea.

He said it was ironic that one of the clear goals of Trump's tariffs was to rally other countries to jointly respond to China, but it seemed counterproductive.

He said that tariff policies harmed U.S. partnerships, and China's "charm offensive" in Southeast Asia was not surprising.

"The U.S. imposed nearly 60% tariffs on Cambodia and Vietnam, which was absolutely a shock to their systems, especially considering that companies moved to Vietnam to cope with the U.S., making it difficult for them to trust the stability of U.S. economic policies."

Sullivan said that although Trump deferred most of the tariffs, the damage had already been done.

"After seeing this situation, China said, 'Hey, let me go for a friendly visit to see if I can tell other countries that we are a responsible party and someone you can rely on.' This is not surprising."

Sullivan said that the chaos caused by the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was one of his greatest regrets.

One of his most comforting achievements was that during a critical and decisive moment in Sino-U.S. relations, he managed the competition with China without escalating it into conflict, maintained and expanded communication channels, and created space for cooperation on major issues between the two countries.

He said, "We managed this competition without letting it escalate into conflict, we maintained and expanded communication channels, and created a space where we could cooperate with China on major issues. On these issues, the U.S. and China must cooperate."

Sullivan believed that this was partly due to his contacts with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in various parts of the world.

"We had real dialogues on how to manage this relationship, these dialogues were not empty pleasantries. They occasionally had controversies, not that we raised our voices, but that we had differences. So I am very proud of this," he said.

Sullivan and Graham Allison, a professor at Harvard University and the proposer of the Thucydides Trap, both mentioned that the rapid policy shifts of the Trump administration were not the final outcome, but allies would have to get used to a more unpredictable America.

"This will require us to be humble, acknowledging that these policy swings have overturned your expectations of us. We may not be able to rebuild the permanent expectation that everything will be fine," Sullivan said.

Regarding the discourse thrown out by U.S. officials regarding Sino-U.S. relations, which had a strong flavor of American hegemony, China previously emphasized multiple times that great power competition goes against the tide of the times and does not solve America's own problems or the challenges facing the world. There are some competitive factors in Sino-U.S. relations, but it cannot define or dominate the entire relationship. China does not avoid competition nor fear competition, but competition should be healthy and positive, not zero-sum games or winner-takes-all, let alone unscrupulous suppression or malicious confrontation.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Guancha Observer and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7494124984937103926/

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