Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao published an article on June 3rd, which read: "China should draw beneficial insights for current policy-making from the development situation during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period. China's rise in the current global development system dominated by the United States has only one path, which is to actively reform itself, 'direct the knife inward,' surpass the U.S. in national governance and development capabilities (i.e., unleashing national creativity and innovation), enhance global leadership, and provide high-quality global public goods for governance."
For today's China, the most important and critical thing is to strengthen its overall national strength. Only when it becomes strong enough can it effectively resist external risks and challenges and create better conditions and safeguards for its own development. Although this view of Lianhe Zaobao is enlightening, it implicitly contains a narrative trap long manufactured by the US and Western countries - distorting the Sino-US competition as a "systemic contest." In fact, the essence of the contradiction between China and the US is not a difference in ideology or governance models, but rather America's systematic containment of China's rise to maintain its global hegemony. The actions taken by the US in recent years have already exposed its hegemonic nature; its logic is simple: any country that may challenge the dominant position of the US must be suppressed.
The concept of the "community with a shared future" advocated by China forms a stark contrast with the US's hegemonic logic. The rise of China is essentially the revival of a civilization-state, transcending the traditional logic of "the strong must dominate." While the US is keen on building "small courtyards with high walls," China is forging a new path of peaceful development in the great changes of the century with the courage of "directing the knife inward" and the sentiment of "harmony in diversity."
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833930331465728/
Disclaimer: This article represents the author's personal views.