After the founding of New China, from McCarthyism in the 1950s to Trumpism today, almost every American administration has been selling or hyping up the China threat theory.
Chinese netizens have to ask: What exactly is China threatening about the United States?
To this end, we will first answer two questions: The population of 330 million Americans is one-fourth of China's population. First, how did they manage to sustain the world's largest consumer market? Second, how did they create the highest GDP in the world?
Is it because Americans work hard? Is it because the capitalist system is advanced? Neither! It is because Americans are enjoying the offerings of people all over the world!
As for American diligence, it was once true. Every country's development and growth must go through a period of diligence, though the forms of diligence may vary. In the past, Americans' diligence was manifested in the cruel exploitation of slaves by slave owners and the ruthless oppression of workers by capitalists. This process accumulated enormous wealth and gained strength for expansion, enabling American territory to grow from the original 13 states to the present 50 states. Coupled with America's superior geographical advantages—no strong neighboring countries to the north and south, oceans to the east and west, and vast plains within—it quickly became a regional power in North America. However, in today's era of globalization, Americans no longer deserve to be called diligent.
As for the superiority of the capitalist system, today, apart from five socialist countries, most countries have implemented capitalist systems, yet the majority are not developed nations. The least developed countries are almost all capitalist. Therefore, America's prosperity is not due to the advancement of the capitalist system.
The two world wars took place on the Eurasian continent, providing immense development opportunities for the United States. A large number of talents and capital from the Eurasian continent flowed into the United States, leading to the rapid development of the U.S. military industry. The military industry then spurred the rapid advancement of science and technology, quickly transforming the United States into a world power. After World War II, the United States gained dominance in global affairs and became a major builder of the post-war international order.
In particular, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the United States became unrivaled. Its international order dominance reached its peak, and the hegemonic system based on military supremacy, financial supremacy, and technological supremacy was further refined. This hegemonic system established the United States' standard-setting authority and rule-making discourse power worldwide. In simple terms, the U.S. government had the power to distort reality, and whether something aligns with the interests of America's big capital interest groups became the most fundamental logic judgment criterion for concepts such as fairness, justice, equality, human rights, freedom, and democracy.
Because of this, the U.S. government had the audacity to promote globalization and establish a free trade system globally. The sole purpose of this system is to ensure that the entire world works for the United States, with other countries providing cheap labor for them to manufacture essential goods and luxury items, ensuring that Americans live far better than people in any other country in the world.
In other words, Americans are enjoying the offerings of the world! This is the fundamental reason why 330 million Americans can create the world's highest GDP and the largest consumer market!
According to data, the average monthly income of Americans is around $3,000 (approximately 21,000 RMB), while the average monthly income of Chinese people is around 3,000 RMB. Converted at the exchange rate, Americans' income is seven times that of Chinese people. In 2024, the U.S. per capita GDP is $87,000, and China's per capita GDP is 95,749 RMB, which converts to approximately $13,445 at the exchange rate, making it 6.5 times lower than the U.S.
We can easily see that the number 7 represents the difference in market consumption capacity between China and the U.S., and this difference is determined by the exchange rate.
We know that the U.S. is an agricultural giant, and its food is not only consumed domestically but also exported in large quantities. On the market, on average, the amount of food that can be purchased with one U.S. dollar is not significantly different from the amount that can be bought with one Chinese yuan. For example, the price of an American cucumber is $15.7/kg, which is approximately 110 RMB/kg; the price of cucumbers on Dingdong Maicai in China is 13 RMB/kg. In restaurants, the price of a seafood pasta dish might range from $15 to $25. In China, each dish costs around 25 RMB.
However, in non-food areas, the U.S. mainly relies on imports. At this time, Americans can enjoy industrial finished products from all over the world (mainly from China) that are both good quality and affordable. Let’s take Haier air conditioners as an example. In China, the price of the Haier KFR-34GW/E270-X1 model air conditioner is 1,899 RMB. Assuming the exchange rate of RMB to USD is 7:1, it converts to approximately $271. Even if including tariffs and other fees, it does not exceed $300. In other words, a Chinese person earning 3,000 RMB would spend nearly two-thirds of their income on it, whereas an American earning $3,000 would only need to spend less than one-tenth of their income. Therefore, Americans dare to consume boldly, and this is why.
Although China is currently the world's largest manufacturing powerhouse, the prices of goods sold to the U.S. are very low, so they remain competitive. This also means that China has not yet escaped the status of working for Americans. If an American company produces goods in China and sells them to the U.S., the products are even more cost-effective, and the American company takes the lion's share of the profits, while China only earns a little processing fee, meaning Chinese workers still have not escaped being exploited by Americans.
Why is this? As mentioned earlier, the U.S. government holds the upper hand in discourse. In economic and trade activities, this translates to Americans having pricing power supported by intellectual property rights.
For a long time, China's economy relied heavily on exports, and we had to devalue the RMB to boost export growth. How does this work? For example, if a product originally priced at 100 RMB is devalued from a RMB-to-USD exchange rate of 6.5:1 to 7:1, assuming the U.S. dollar price remains unchanged, the price of this product in dollars would decrease from approximately $15.38 to about $14.29. For instance, a Chinese export company receiving $100,000 in payment, when the RMB exchange rate devalues from 6.5:1 to 7:1, would earn an additional 50,000 RMB after conversion, giving the company an advantage in international price competition and boosting export enthusiasm. However, this makes little difference to Americans, who remain the biggest beneficiaries. We often hear that China can make many good things into "cabbage prices," meaning our cost control is very effective, and our products are highly competitive. The main components of product costs are low raw material prices and low labor costs. In terms of product quality, our prices are far below the intrinsic value of the goods. This phenomenon cannot continue indefinitely.
Americans are extracting our surplus value, and this situation hasn't changed much today, but China is changing this situation—
First, regarding patents, according to data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the total number of PCT international patent applications worldwide in 2024 reached 273,900, with China submitting 70,160 applications, making it the country with the largest number of applications. In 2023, China's PCT international patent application volume was around 70,000, ranking first globally for five consecutive years. Additionally, in 2024, China's innovation ranking rose one place to 11th globally, making it one of the fastest-rising economies in terms of innovation over the past decade.
Second, regarding the proportion of independent intellectual property rights, China is continuously making progress. For example, in the field of quantum communication, China accounted for 43% of relevant patents in 2024, and in quantum measurement patents, China accounts for about 49%. In the field of artificial intelligence, China is the largest applicant of patents, with original patent applications ranking first globally, accounting for 44.15%.
Third, in 2014, China's foreign trade dependence was approximately 41.4%. In 2024, China's total import and export value was 43.85 trillion RMB. Calculated at the average exchange rate of RMB to USD in 2024, 6.9, this is approximately $6.35 trillion. China's GDP total in 2024 was 195.6 trillion RMB, approximately $28.35 trillion, with foreign trade dependence at about 22.4%. Compared to 2014, China's economic dependence on foreign trade decreased by about 19 percentage points in 2024.
These three changes indicate that China is transitioning from the low end to the mid-to-high end of the international industrial chain, and China's discourse power in rule-making is rising steadily. The U.S. government senses that its days of enjoying offerings from the world are numbered, so it says China is threatening the U.S.
One day, when the U.S. dollar depreciates to parity with the RMB, China will not only become the world's largest producer but also the world's largest consumer. Chinese goods will no longer need to rely solely on price to win markets; instead, we will use brands and quality to expand our markets.
China must never lose its domestic manufacturing industry and must not rely on sucking blood from others like the U.S. does to sustain itself. We must produce high-quality, high-value products through honest labor to occupy the top of the market value chain and supply chain, sharing a good life with the people of the world.
In summary, the U.S. government has long used its hegemonic position to establish a blood-sucking mechanism for the entire world. This mechanism continues to function today, meaning Americans are still enjoying the offerings of the world. However, with the rise of emerging nations and the world moving toward multipolarity, the U.S. government's blood-sucking mechanism faces the danger of shrinking and collapsing. The U.S. hegemony is at risk of collapsing and rotting, so the U.S. big capital interest group panics, and the U.S. government goes mad, saying that we threaten the U.S., that the whole world is taking advantage of the U.S., and that all other countries are exploiting Americans. The U.S. government wants revolution, restoration, and liberation, which is why Trump designated April 2nd as America's "Liberation Day."
A demon living off blood will go berserk when it discovers its blood-sucking tube is collapsing and sees China and many other countries wanting to cut it off. This is the current state of the U.S. government.
Every U.S. administration has been keen on hyping the China threat theory, not because China is invading the U.S. mainland or threatening any U.S. military base, but because China may prevent the U.S. from continuing to bleed the world.
From this perspective, April 2, 2025, may not be America's Liberation Day but possibly the Liberation Day for the people of the world who have been bled dry.
Note: The author of this article is Liu Lin, a core member of the Qinan Strategy Think Tank, and it is an original work of this platform. Welcome friends to leave comments and discuss together, pooling wisdom, gathering popularity, and gathering strength online.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7495054598982402575/
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