Something is amiss with US political discourse on China: China Daily editorial

It seems as if pointing accusing fingers at China has become political correctness in the United States. As a result, US officials are now accustomed to speaking with a forked tongue when it comes to China.

The most recent example is US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's claim on Thursday that the chief executive of Huawei Technologies was telling lies about the company's ties to the Chinese government.

"The company is deeply tied not only to China but also to the Chinese Communist Party. And that connectivity, the existence of those connections puts American information that crosses those networks at risk," he alleged.
Once again there was no evidence to back up the allegation that Huawei has been doing espionage work on behalf of the Chinese government.

As a Chinese company, it is natural for Huawei to have working relations with the Chinese government. In the first place, it must be regulated by the local government where it is located when it comes to administrative affairs concerning the taxes it has to pay and social responsibilities it has to perform.

But it does not mean that Huawei is spying on other countries on behalf of China's military or the country's intelligence department.

The US secretary of state was telling the truth when he said that more US companies would cut ties with Huawei. But that is not because they want to sever their cooperation with Huawei. They are being forced to do so by the US government, which put Huawei on a trade blacklist on May 15.

The fact is that US companies have to follow administrative orders of the US government. Should we refer to such a situation as a kind of connectivity between US companies and the US government? If so, do we assume that some US companies may follow the administrative orders of the US government to conduct espionage activities on behalf of the US intelligence? If so, should we say that some US companies' connections with the US government pose a risk to the national security of other countries?

National security has also become an important part of political correctness in the US political discourse. When their China-bashing is closely combined with national security, US politicians do not need any evidence or fact or even common sense in their accusations against China. All they need is rhetoric, the harsher the better.

This is dangerous for the healthy development of bilateral ties between the two countries.

Rather than being obsessed with the presumption that the US has been victimized in its trade with China, US politicians need to look at US-China relations objectively and seek a pragmatic way to solve the differences between the two countries and reach a workable deal.

In the first place, they need to modify their rhetoric when they talk about China as the language they use shapes public perceptions, which in turn may damage the foundation of bilateral ties.