The Time Has Come to Lay Down the Law

Looking forward to 2010, we see that the global economic situation is showing signs of improvement, indicating that the worst is over and that the economy is on the road to recovery. In sharp contrast, however, and causing some feelings of unease, is the possibility that the heretofore bright and sunny relations between China and the United States might cloud over — even to the point of turning into a blizzard.

American authorities have recently been letting loose a continuous stream of rumors, saying that the United States might soon sell military equipment to Taiwan and that Obama might meet with the Dalai Lama. This author believes that China can no longer act like the character in Hou Baolin comedies who waits anxiously for the upstairs neighbor’s other shoe to drop. Instead, China must engage actively and shape U.S. policy choices!

Representations of the importance of Chinese-American relations are numerous. For many years, China has held Chinese-American relations to the utmost importance. Likewise, President Obama has said that the relationship between China and the United States is a bilateral one that will shape the future of the world in the 21st century. Since Chinese-American relations are so important, then they must be well tended, and both countries must tend to them together. But looking back on the time since our two countries established diplomatic ties, we have experienced continuous and repeated ups and downs. Each time, the United States has treated China high-handedly; it is never China that provokes the United States.

In the past, people described the relationship between China and the United States as neither an especially good thing, nor an especially bad thing. Likewise, China’s policies toward the United States held the idea that we could struggle without damaging the relationship. To maintain a healthy and stable development of Chinese-American relations, we can’t simply rely on being patient and accommodating. In particular, we absolutely cannot concede on questions of principle. The only way we can guarantee the healthy development of Chinese-American relations is by not being afraid to do some damage. In the past, in confronting the elder Bush over his demands that China change its immigration policies, as well as tolerate America’s sale of weapons, China replied in a resounding voice, “Do not hope that the Chinese people will swallow this bitter fruit.” Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s strong declaration that “there is no room for negotiation on questions of sovereignty” gave the Iron Lady Mrs. Thatcher no choice but to back down.

In international politics, the United States regularly requires other countries to conform to its own standards, or else face punishment. The U.S. vehemently criticizes China for carrying out normal trade with many countries. In recent years, the U.S. has repeatedly punished Chinese corporations on shaky grounds. But now the U.S. is selling arms to Taiwan. The forces behind this are those large military corporations who, on the one hand, hope we will purchase their airplanes and other products. At the same time, they rake in huge profits by selling arms to Taiwan — interfering in China’s domestic affairs. Why don’t we carry out a defensive counterattack? Why can’t we punish these troublemakers?

Merchants care for nothing but profits, so we must cause disastrous damage to the profits of those companies and interest groups that impinge on the interests of the Chinese people. We must ensure that they will always remember. We hold many cards in our hand at present, and we absolutely must make certain that their financial losses here exceed the profits they make in selling weapons to Taiwan — to make sure they lose more than they gain. After President Obama’s state visit to China, we went to great lengths to preserve the stability of Chinese-American relations, negotiating as much as possible in a comparatively mollifying way. But again and again, the United States has shown no trace of politeness, carrying out every kind of commercial punishment against us.

It seems that we could change our way of thinking and use their own methods against them: We can use the very techniques that the Americans are accustomed to employing in order to teach Americans themselves a lesson. At least we can try, and perhaps we will get better results than our current goodwill approaches of “taking the long view,” and “considering issues from the strategic point of view and the long-term perspective.”

There are some people who believe that America’s sale of weapons to Taiwan is part of their national domestic policy, something mandated by the Taiwan Relations Act, and likewise that the meeting with the Dalai Lama is made necessary by domestic politics, which any American president would find difficult to alter. By thinking in this way, we considerately put ourselves in the shoes of American politicians. But the Americans show us no similar consideration. They have grown accustomed to the hegemonic logic that “whatever I want to do, I can do.”

There is nothing in the world that cannot be changed — it is just a matter of considering whether the time has come when change is necessary. At times when change is needed, even the most difficult things must be altered, and this is how U.S. policy toward China works. By looking back at history, we see that Chiang Kai-shek was the constant ally of the United States, regardless of whether it was in the middle of the War of Resistance against Japan, or handling issues related to the Chinese Communist Party. But not so long ago, as the United States confronted the military threat from the Soviet Union, which needed to rely heavily on China, the United States discarded its ally with relative ease. The decision-making process of U.S. foreign policy is full of practical considerations like this one.

We certainly hold no hope that the entire shape of Chinese-American relations can be reversed in a single day, nor can we hope that the United States will change its policy thinking toward China in one night. However, with constant effort, we can shape U.S. policy decisions, for the time has come to lay down the law!