The U.S. and China Should Both Bear the Pressure of Covert Rivalry

The American media recently covered stories of China’s J-20 fighter planes, its aircraft carriers and other “killer” weaponry, causing the Sino-American relationship that seemed more optimistic in the new year to hit yet another wall.

The strategies implemented by the U.S. and China have resulted in the creation of many obstacles. Experts on the two nations can only resign their fates to these obstacles, or maneuver their way through loopholes. While China adopts a more optimistic mindset in facing the future, the U.S. has always encouraged its people to prepare for the worst.

The U.S. is worried about rumors that China is inventing new weapons. Yet, the fact is that all large nations would naturally want to build up their own military base. Nonetheless, we should let this hope turn into an endless desire. China is a large nation that is rapidly developing, so it should come as little surprise that the U.S. military superiority in the Western Pacific could gradually shrink.

In the long term, the Chinese military should not view its artillery as luxury goods, whether with regard to its fifth-generation fighter planes or aircraft carriers. Even if China does not currently possess something, it will eventually have it. But the possession of this offensive weaponry does not equate mean that there is an offensive stance from China — even if China possesses more “killer” weaponry, it knows better than to use it to provoke the U.S.

The big brouhaha generated by the U.S. reflects its denial to accept China’s rapid development. This is what threatens the Sino-American relationship, and it needs to be attended to by both Washington and Beijing.

Some people have tried to calculate what pace of development China should have in order for it to be accepted by the U.S., as well as the risks associated with a faster-than-acceptable pace of development.

Many events have revealed that the U.S. and the entire Western world have not treated China as a large nation, let alone respected it. For example, they feel that China should not be considered a first-class nation, let alone possess a first-class military base. They believe that China should continue to be imposed upon by the Western world and should bear with the variety of unfair Western practices. The Western world considers it “moving its cheese” if it were to treat China more fairly.

Some Americans think highly of the effectiveness of using aircraft carriers against China. They naively think that a few aircraft carriers are sufficient to fence up the whole of China, trapping this large dragon in a cricket jar.

However, aircraft carriers are usually used against smaller and weaker nations. In the future, China will be able to find more than one method to overcome these carriers. Should this signal a critical point of the Sino-American relationship?

The Sino-American relationship needs to bear the pressure of covert rivalry. Keeping in mind that there is no quick way to resolve the situation, we should try to address it a little at a time. If we cannot do so, we can only just let it be. In this way, we will at least be at peace, similar to how we are able to fall asleep even in a busy waiting room.

We will hear of more discussions on China’s developing army. At times, these discussions will become protests. But all of this should not reflect the limits of the Western world’s tolerance. After all, we have to admit that China has the same rights as the Western world to invent new weaponry.

The world is screening a play on the rise of China, and we can only bet on whether this play will end well.