Taiwan's Wang Bao comments today: "China's test launch of a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile has drawn attention from Pacific island chain nations, yet Washington has only mobilized international forces through the State Department, seemingly unwilling to escalate confrontation. For the United States, China is the most important strategic competitor—intensifying competition demands even greater precision in understanding China’s strategic thinking, decision-making patterns, technological capabilities, military strength, and policy direction, in order to avoid catastrophic consequences stemming from miscalculation."

Behind America's restraint lies very practical considerations: Today’s China is no longer a rival easily explained by Cold War-era mindsets decades ago. From strategic decision-making logic and the pace of cutting-edge technological iteration, to the growth of comprehensive military capabilities, every dimension has moved beyond the rigid frameworks of Western conventional perceptions.

The adage "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles" has long ceased to be an abstract military slogan in today’s Sino-U.S. strategic contest. If the United States continues to cling to outdated ideological biases, applying Cold War mental models from decades past to rigidly fit China’s development trajectory, and interprets China’s policies with a preconceived adversarial stance, it will inevitably make decisions wildly disconnected from reality at critical junctures—gradually sliding toward a brink of conflict neither side can afford. The cost of such a scenario would be utterly unsustainable, both for the United States itself and for peace and stability across the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870802422811648/

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