I’ll Believe in Ghosts before I Believe a Word That Comes Out of an American Politician’s Mouth

United States Secretary of State John Kerry once turned to a CCTV camera and swore that America was absolutely not trying to contain China. “China really needs to move away from this conspiracy theory, as well as the belief that America’s Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy is to contain China.”* When the United States received criticism stating that the Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy was [indeed] to contain China, many American politicians and political analysts expressed the same indignation as Kerry. Not even a month had passed since the political science professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago exposed Kerry’s lies in his book, “Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics.”

[Mearsheimer], the spokesperson for the “China threat” theory, said, “America’s leaders are continually lying about America’s policy toward China. Once anybody says that America is containing China or encircling China, they all protest, but that is exactly what Washington is doing. … Washington is developing relationships with all of the countries that are having territorial disputes with China; moreover, they are taking their sides in the disputes. It doesn’t matter if the countries are in the right or the wrong; all are accusing China.”* [The notion that] America is not trying to contain China is the world’s biggest lie.

According to Professor Mearsheimer, America’s lies don’t fool China because “the Chinese make decisions based on Americans’ behavior.”* Why doesn’t America “man up”? “A better explanation for these [lies] is that they are directed at a third party, and the third party may want to avoid risk by cooperating with Washington.”* China has already become the world’s second biggest economy and is supplying the world with a varied market and inexpensive goods. Many countries are benefiting from China’s economic reform and capital. According to a 2011 report by the Associated Press, China was the largest trade partner to 124 countries. America was the largest trade partner of 76 countries, and a lot of those countries were America’s allies. If America really planned on China’s containment, how many countries would happily play along? Could any of these countries really make money from China and simultaneously stand behind America’s containment policy?

“The lies of America’s leaders are not for the Chinese, but for their allies,”* says Professor Mearsheimer, but his viewpoint is incomplete. The lies of American politicians are for the electorate to consider when they cast their votes. [Politicians] cannot admit to containing China; America’s business world would lose profit from China, and the American general populace wouldn’t agree either. “We cannot possibly say that America is preparing itself for another Korean War.”* War takes human lives, and even more [significant is the fact that] China is a nuclear power.

The lies of America’s politicians are also for the Chinese public: “They continually deceive the Chinese public in order to lessen China’s ill feelings toward America’s containment policy.”* Rationally speaking, if the United States really wanted to do business in China, it “would bring goods or money; that is what real business looks like! Yet [it is] already preparing [its] sword.”* America’s lies are so rampant that some Chinese will start believing them. There are even one or two mainland scholars who believe Kerry’s lies, [among them that] “the United States is not trying to contain China.” I wonder what they would think if they read Professor Mearsheimer’s articles?

It’s only natural for American politicians to tell lies; without lies they aren’t able to do a thing. Were Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction ever found? I will die before I understand Saddam’s death. His only mistake was not listening to America and living in Iraq, “the biggest virgin land floating in a sea of oil.”* Hong Kong reporter Zhang Cui Rong, in his book “Middle East Scene,” wrote, “For the United States, the real weapon of mass destruction is nothing other than oil. … It is obvious that was the reason behind the start of the war. What else would make the VIPs as pleased as establishing a U.S. military base on oil territory?”

At the start of the war America was speaking of human rights, democracy and freedom; this was just a pretense. The real reason for the war was that Iraq was an obstacle for America. It doesn’t even matter if China was subjectively trying to challenge the United States; China’s sudden rise is disrupting current geo-relations. If the United States wishes to maintain the [role of] world leader, it cannot allow another country’s military and economic progress to close in on its own. The United States cannot let China’s sudden rise go unchecked. Its reaction to the Diaoyu Island situation and that of the South China Sea is a testament to that fact. “If America is already near China’s shore sharpening its knife, then is it just hopeful thinking to speak of America and China’s friendship?”*

After the crash of the Malaysian airliner, America’s media accused China of siding with Russia. There is a large amount of evidence, but no one will consider it because of America’s pack of lies. America believes that China and Russia are threatening the positions of [those countries’] biggest rivals. This has caused trouble of every conceivable kind, all [in order to allow] America to maintain its position as the world’s superpower. China and Russia have to link arms to stop America’s hegemonic rule and be on guard against the U.S. causing problems so close to their soil. China has always used the standard criteria to judge things right and wrong: Before the truth comes out, China cannot be America’s lapdog.

　　

I would rather believe in ghosts than believe any words that come out of an American politician’s mouth. Confucius once said, “Listen to what people say and observe what they do.” He also said, “Do not rely on the notion that people won’t attack; rely on an invincible defense.” China should not go looking for trouble nor should they be afraid. “When friends come, have good alcohol ready; when jackals and wolves come, have your shotgun handy.”

*Editor’s note: The original quotations, accurately translated, could not be verified.