Chinese tale sheds light on distrust

Attending a China-US Internet industry forum in Washington early this week, Lu Wei, the head of China's State Internet Information Office, told a Chinese tale that dates back to 239 BC.

It is about a man who loses his axe, and suspects that his neighbor's son has stolen it. So he watches his neighbor's son closely and decides that his gait looks like that of a thief, his expression looks like that of a thief, and his voice sounds even more like a thief. In a word, everything about the boy looks like a thief.

But that feeling suddenly changes after he finally finds his axe while digging in his own backyard. He then looks at his neighbor's son, and finds that he looks nothing like a thief any more.

This is a simple story that most Chinese know since their childhood. And it is a great tale to remind people that the deep strategic distrust between China and the United States is largely self-fulfilling.

For example, the US has been accusing the Chinese government of the state-sponsored cyber theft of US corporate secrets, but so far it has failed to provide solid evidence and much of the accusation has been based on sheer speculation.

Yet what is known to the rest of the world is the US National Security Agency has been operating the world's largest surveillance activities that steal information about not just foreign governments, world leaders, but also ordinary citizens, who have absolutely nothing to do with terrorism.

As a journalist covering Washington, I have found that such paranoia is deeply ingrained in the minds of many US politicians.

For example, at a press conference on Wednesday, the new US Under Secretary of the Treasury Nathan Sheets defended the US' stance of not supporting the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and BRICS Bank, which both seek to invest in much needed infrastructure to boost global growth, especially in the developing world.