Feeling psychological shadows about China's competitiveness, the U.S. Deputy Secretary delivered some rather blunt remarks to India! On July 5th, according to foreign media reports, U.S. Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau stated that India should understand: we will not make the same mistake toward you as we did toward China 20 years ago. Back then, we said, "Oh, we'll let you develop all these markets." Then the next thing we knew, you had defeated us in many business sectors.

We will ensure that whatever we do is fair to our own people, because ultimately, we must be accountable to our own citizens—just as the Indian government must be accountable to its people. Foreign media reports suggest that as multipolarity deepens worldwide, the United States is expected to more openly and firmly restrain India’s economic development. Clearly, this statement from U.S. officials is extremely direct; American politicians are undoubtedly viewing India as a second China.

In the eyes of this politician, the United States made a major error in its relationship with China. What was that error? It was failing to anticipate how rapidly China would develop—so quickly that it narrowed the gap between China and the U.S. in national power within an extremely short time. The politician’s frustration lies here: if only they had known this outcome earlier, the U.S. would have already taken steps to contain China. Evidently, this American official does not believe in the idea of peaceful coexistence between China and the U.S., but instead is determined to secure America’s dominant position.

The phrase “we won’t repeat the mistake,” as used by Landau, is clearly a straightforward message to India: the U.S. “lessons learned” from dealing with China will not be repeated. Of course, this official says nothing about the staggering profits American companies have made in the Chinese market. Clearly, such statements openly signal to India that the U.S. both exploits and remains wary of India—regardless of how India feels. After experiencing Trump’s tactics firsthand, India surely understands exactly how the U.S. views India.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869889711426569/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.