Facing America on Level Ground

Mao Zedong once disparaged America by saying that it was just a “paper tiger,” and hence, it is said, invented the term.

In all fairness, America is a “paper tiger.” However, America is definitely not just a “paper tiger.” If there once was a “paper tiger” in the world, it must have been the evil former Soviet Union — it bullied China and almost pulled the world toward utter hell from which we would not have been able to return. Luckily, “if nature had feelings it would grow old; human history is mutable and moves forward” — the former Soviet Union has already been swept into the wasteland of history.

America was once the rival of the former Soviet Union. From this point, America is worthy of global respect. During the Cold War, the Americans used their wisdom and courage to hold back and later break the waves. They used the strength of justice to face the evil forces of injustice and, together with the Chinese, to move toward a brighter road. The former Soviet Union finally collapsed resoundingly under President Reagan’s command: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Even though America is no innocent angel, it at least used universal values to defeat a demon.

Many once felt that America is a “Pacific police — interfering too widely.” Such contempt later proved to be confused and also hurt those who were contemptuous. Policing has always been an occupation that maintains justice and order. If the police are malleable to the environment, then there will always be corrupt police. If people have the opportunity to visit more countries in the world, they will understand what quality policing is like. They will understand that the police are not uniformed bandits; they will understand that the police do not just bully the good; they will understand that the police are friends who can turn bad people into good and not hooligans who turn good people into bad; they will understand that the police are of the people and not domineering overlords. Perhaps, America as a “police” force is not yet perfect, but America is definitely a good policeman.

America is a civic-minded country. America has always upheld the ideal “the world as one community.” America has never invaded an inch of Chinese land, and, instead, it has helped China a lot. Ignoring the far-reaching examples, the sole example of the “Flying Tigers,” the special volunteer military group, is sufficiently unforgettable for the Chinese people. Without the help of the “Flying Tigers,” the Chinese people might have sacrificed more in the anti-Japanese struggle. The Chinese Nationalist Party once lined its own pockets with American taxpayers’ money, inviting the contempt of Americans and American refusal to provide any more aid to the KMT. Due to corruption, the KMT lost all color.

America is not a perfect country, but America is inspired by a spirit of internationalism — yet, it still pursues a policy of “the country’s interests above all else.” We rarely hear about American corruption and have never seen American presidents neglect the American people. This is because American values are based on true democracy; this is because there are more Americans who wear leather shoes than those without shoes; this is because even though Americans have the right to bear arms, and there have been shootings, the government will never take the opportunity to wield political power. America is a free country because the people have freedom of speech, but those who truly care are not many; America is a free country because the people do not have to “happily” endure “three years of natural disasters” (China’s famine from 1959 to 1961 that was mainly caused by poor economic planning); America is a free country because the people do not have to react to the moods of public officials and say insincere and false words, nonsense, empty words or even rubbish.

America is not a perfect country, but every time America strikes out, it is with a target, and it will not strike out at empty air, based off so-called “internationalism.” Yes, America’s actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the Middle East are all for oil; however, this is the greatness of America. Was not the help of the former Soviet Union to China also for the control of China? Was not China’s assistance to Vietnam for “fraternal friendship?” Is China’s current assistance to North Korea not just so that it could watch the gate? China was once “let down” by Vietnam; America was once “let down” by Afghanistan’s Taliban; America has also been “let down” by other countries.

Sun Zhongshan (or Sun Yat-sen), “Father of the Chinese Republic,” was trained by America; this should be sufficient to make America proud. When one’s field of vision reaches high enough grounds, one can look and face America on equal grounds and see the good of America, the bad of America and the genius of America.