Wu Guangqiang jw368@163.com A FAMOUS line from a poem from the Tang Dynasty is a most pertinent description of the current hysterical suppression by the Trump administration on China: “Dark clouds over the town threaten to crush it down.” Though Donald Trump, leading his bunch of incompetent yet adulatory yes-men, has failed to stop the deadly virus from infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, he is spending every single moment demonizing and attacking China, in addition to his squandering his other remaining time tweeting, creating and spreading rumors as well as playing golf. Washington does exert tremendous pressure on China on all fronts and makes great trouble for China. U.S. military aircraft and warships are provoking China near Chinese territorial seas and airspace; rogue politicians on Capitol Hill and anti-China clowns in the White House are brazenly playing the Taiwan and Hong Kong cards in an attempt to fish in troubled waters; Pompeo the Mad Dog is running around the world viciously barking at China and trying to incite other nations to join his anti-China chorus; Trump, out of his fear of Chinese high-tech companies’ powerful competitiveness and creativity, acting like a street bully, is using state power to strangle Chinese companies including 5G giant Huawei and short-video leader TikTok, discarding the principles of rule of law, free market, fair competition and honoring of contracts that America had trumpeted; and worst of all, a distraught Washington is unilaterally escalating confrontation with China. All signs show that Washington is bent on starting a new Cold War against China to curb China’s peaceful rise and maintain U.S. domination over the world. Therefore, it’s widely anticipated that more provocative acts will be hatched and carried out from the Oval Office, and the moves will be more destructive both to China and to the rest of the world. For a treacherous and adventurous gambler like Trump, nothing is impossible. Anything is possible as long as it helps him win the re-election. Yet nothing will take China aback given Trump’s previous behaviors and I believe that contingency plans in response to all scenarios are on President Xi Jinping’s table. Should China be engaged in a tit-for-tat fight with Washington? The answer is definitely no. I’d like to cite a line from late Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s poem to illustrate China’s composure and confidence in the face of Washington’s delirious mania: “I’d take a leisurely stroll even on a stormy day.” Mao was well known for his strategic vision, profound insights and extraordinary judgment. Benefiting from his political legacy, Chinese leadership has accumulated rich experience in dealing with complex international challenges. China enjoys numerous advantages to prevail over America in an imminent showdown if Washington resolves to start a duel. In the worst scenario of a military conflict, China will not yield up an inch when its sovereignty and territorial integrity is threatened and will mobilize its full capabilities to inflict devastating damages on desperadoes. Washington has zero chances of winning a war against China near or on the Chinese territory. And its inevitable defeat means the end of its global hegemony. The threat to decouple U.S.-Chinese economic ties will not bother China since the two countries are too tightly inter-knitted economically for either side to decouple without paying heavy prices. It is certain that should it happen, China would survive better than the U.S. Washington’s bullying on Chinese high-tech companies will affect their growth, but only temporarily. The widespread disillusion in America-touted “universal values” among Chinese researchers and scholars will lead to their greater determination to develop Chinese science and technology independently. Now that China has completely controlled the virus and stood out as the world’s only major economy to achieve economic growth amid the pandemic in the first half of this year, it sees no reason to panic or distract itself from its set goals. (The author is an English tutor and freelance writer.) | 