China and Perceptions

China Daily today has an article urging the US to correct mistaken remarks in its National Intelligence Strategy which lists China along with Russia, Iran, and North Korea as the four major countries challenging US interests.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said “We urge the United States to discard its Cold War mindset and prejudice, correct the mistakes in the NIS report and stop publishing wrong opinions about China which may mislead the American people and undermine the mutual trust between China and the United States,"

Well first of all, it’s a report from the intelligence services. The US government can’t really go back and “correct” it after it has been released. Those are the opinions of America’s intelligence community and it is their responsibility to report them. What makes the comment even more troublesome is that she is asking specifically for the US government to stop publishing “wrong opinions”. How can an opinion be wrong? It’s a subjective analysis. Just because you arrest people at home for having an “incorrect opinion” doesn’t mean the rest of the world obeys that standard as well.

Perhaps China isn’t among the four countries presenting the largest challenge to American interests. But who else is there? Both countries that frequently block Western initiatives on the Security Council are named. Since China harps on about the evils of unilateralism, and how actions taken in the international arena require UN “legitimacy” doesn’t that make them a key challenger to US interests? China’s growing economy is also a direct challenge to US interests. They are driving up the prices of commodity imports the US needs to keep its economy moving. This is also a challenge to US interests.All things considered, the major threats facing the US from China are economic and political, not military or related to regional or global stability. Perhaps it is time for China to discard its cold war mentality and look at things from the American side. No one wants to be on a list with Russia, Iran, and North Korea – with the possible exception of Venezuela – but China is there for a completely different reason. The sooner they realize this, the sooner everyone can calm down.