Smears tailored to biased perception of China: China Daily editorial

Having decided that China is a rival of the United States, policymakers in Washington have already determined a course of action. Thus resolved on what to do, they clothe their actions with words that fit their purpose.

Still clinging to the mentality that it must be the US which calls the shots as far as global governance is concerned, it seems that it is impossible for them to exchange views with anyone else about the reform of the global governance system.

That is why, in his speech on May 26 expounding on the Joe Biden administration's China policy, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described China as a power that is "undermining" the current global order, and claimed that it has become "more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad". Which reveals how problematic and far from the actuality Washington's perception of China is.

Still looking at China through the prism of an outdated ideological perspective, it is clearly impossible for Washington to perceive what China has done for a fairer international order through its efforts to improve global governance.

China has become a "rival" in Washington's eyes just because it "is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it", as Blinken said in his speech.

But China does not want to reshape the international order, it wants to improve it.

What really annoys the China hawks in Washington is the fact that China has been doing what it can to reduce the global governance deficit and make the international order fairer and more reasonable. In this way it is moving the US' cheese, much to their chagrin.

Unlike the US, which has launched wars or got involved in military conflicts all over the world, China always seeks to settle disputes and resolve differences with other countries through talks.

It is the US that interferes in the internal affairs of other countries and seeks to engineer changes of regime.

It is the US that poses a serious challenge to the international order and world peace by trying to subjugate the global order to its will, whether covertly or overtly.

Blinken accused China of using market-distorting policies and practices to gain competitive advantage despite the fact China has long been pursuing a policy for cooperation with all countries for mutual benefit. It would be impossible for China to have maintained and strengthened its economic ties with countries over the years if it was adopting market-distorting policies.

China-US relations can hardly develop in a smooth manner unless Washington puts into balanced and objective perspective what China has achieved and what role it is playing in improving global governance.