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Recent developments on the relationship between the U.S. and China have led to an extremely strained relationship between the two countries leading to a critical cross-road: war or peace. This is not just any war, but a large-scale war, perhaps a world war involving most countries and possibly the use of nuclear weapons.

For a while, I thought that relationship cannot keep on getting worse because it is not good for the U.S., not good for China, and also not good for the whole world. [1]  But that relationship has kept on getting worse. [2][3]  We need to understand the real conflict between the U.S. and China, and what can be done to address the problem.

This is the subject of this article. We will discuss the critical conflict between U.S. and China, why that conflict is leading to a path of war, and how that path can and must be altered.

We will also discuss the impact of this relationship on Chinese Americans. We will discuss, especially the views of second-generation/third-generation Chinese Americans, and more generally speaking on the view of the people of the world.

Analyzing and Understanding the Conflict Between U.S. and China:

There are many differences between U.S. and China, e.g., their histories, how the government operates, the way freedom and people’s wishes are expressed and reflected in the government, how government policies are formed and carried out, the country’s strategic alliances with other countries, the conduct of foreign policies and treatment of other governments and countries. These differences could easily lead to conflicts between the U.S. government and the Chinese government, especially when the differences lead to different political orientations. However, such differences should not lead to the two countries getting to diametrically opposite opposing corners. For example, China’s Bell and Road Initiative (BRI) could help a democratic government that is based on free elections and also an autocratic government whose family basically controls the whole country. It could help to improve the livelihood of the people of both countries, and therefore, it should not lead to their foreign policies on China that are diametrically opposite to each other.

Why is the relationship between U.S. and China keep on getting more antagonistic when a better relationship can benefit the American people, the Chinese people, as well as the other people of the world? Why is that relationship moving toward more confrontations and even war?

To understand the answer to that question, one needs to take an unbiased assessment of the history of the U.S. and especially what it has done in its foreign policy toward other countries in the last 75 years, since the end of WWII.

Earlier this year, we posted two articles in this website on the subject “Tale of Two Standards in World Politics – Part 1” [4] and “Tale of Two Standards in World Politics – Part 2” [5]. Instead of repeating what was written in those two articles, let me just write down the summary of the two articles:

“The U.S. government always presents itself as a government that is democratic, respects human rights, treats other countries with peaceful intention, and helps to solve world problems. That is the image that the U.S. government and the U.S. mass media depict itself. In reality, the U.S. government doesn’t act that way. It is not a democratic government working for the benefits of all its people; it treats its citizens differently depending on race, sex, place of origin, wealth, social and political status, etc.; it involves in many wars and instigates numerous regime changes in many countries. Furthermore, in many respects it behaves contrary to what a democratic government is supposed to behave.  Not only that it often doesn’t get involved in solving various world problems. It sometimes drops out of critical agreements (e.g., Paris Agreement on Climate Change) and criticizes or even sabotages other countries’ contributions.”

Now I will discuss the real conflict between the U.S. and China, and why that relationship is getting worse with more confrontations and possibly leading to war.

The Real Conflict Between U.S. and China:

In the last 40+ years, China has transformed itself from a very poor and backward country into the world’s second largest economy, lifted most of its huge population out of poverty, became basically the factory of the world, became the world’s third largest nuclear power, and has the world’s second strongest military, and can compete with the best of the world in science, engineering, bio-medicine, space explorations, and new patents, as well as gaining influences in world affairs. What is best for the world is for China and the U.S. to work cooperatively to address and solve the many difficult problems facing humanity. If the world’s two richest economies and the most powerful countries cannot work cooperatively, at least we hope that they don’t try to sabotage each other. Unfortunately, it seems that one country, the U.S., has been working hard to do just that. [2] [3]

Why? Instead of living together to try to improve the world, why would the U.S. try to create confrontations that can escalate into wars? If U.S. and China work together to address the world’s problems, then the U.S. would not be able to control the world and dictate their so-called rule-based order for the world to follow. Instead of creating a world with multi modality, the U.S. wants to create a single modality world with the U.S. in the center and in control of that modality.

This may be surprising to many people, but it is consistent with U.S. policy in how it has been treating the rest of the world in the past century. Unlike the image that the U.S. government has been presenting to the world that it is a democratic and benevolent country trying to do the best for all the people of the world, unfortunately, that image has been repeatedly shown to be false, as illustrated by the large number of regime change activities engaged by the U.S. [6] [7] [8]

Some of the activities of the U.S. government have been so evil that it is almost unimaginable. An example of that is what the U.S. did in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, using island natives as guinea pigs to see the effects of nuclear radiations. [9]

Unfortunately, we have to face reality because the U.S. is not willing to give up its power to dominate the world, the U.S. is willing to create conflicts with China, even leading to a war between the world’s two most powerful military powers, possibly leading to a world war with the use of nuclear weapons. This is the essence of the real conflict between the U.S. and China.

Multi-lateral World Versus A Unilateral World:

China wants a multi-lateral world, but U.S. wants a unilateral world following the U.S. rule-based order.

With China’s rise to almost equal to U.S.:  economically, politically, militarily, U.S. feels the competition from China, and wants to dominate the world, always criticizing China, independent of its justification. When it does not get its wish, the U.S. will not hesitate to instigate regime change or create color/umbrella revolutions. This creates instabilities and could lead to wars all over the world, including to world wars or nuclear wars.

Of course we all hope that this will not happen and the U.S. will also pursue a multi-lateral world to the benefits of all countries and all the people of the world.  Unfortunately, just wishing it is unlikely to make that become a reality.

However, when other countries in many other parts of the world also see the benefits of a multi-lateral world, and openly advocate and work toward that goal, then the U.S. will need to change its foreign policy toward a multi-lateral world.  Then the world may choose the path to peace in this fork in the road of war or peace.

People of the World Must Create a Massive Pro-Peace (or Anti-War) Movement:

Until that happens, the decision should be clear that the world must generate a massive peace movement, or anti-war movement.  Creating a war between the U.S. and China is legally, historically, ethically, and morally not justifiable.  It is not necessary, and not good for the U.S., China, or the world.  The consequence of the alternative is unimaginably terrifying.

The fact that this potential war is also not good for the U.S., this global peace movement should be able to generate mass support in the U.S. at both the grass root level and the government level, although it will not be easy.  Keep in mind that it was not easy to generate a massive antiwar movement in the 1960s and 1970s against the Vietnam War when all young men in the U.S. were required by the draft to join the military.  Now that requirement is no longer in place due to replacing the draft of young American men by a professional U.S. army, it may reduce the psychological impact of seeing body bags of dead American soldiers shown on TV every evening as we saw back then. 

There are already many organizations existing today working toward global peace; a partial list is given below.  Some of them are major organizations, and have been in existence for many years.

• International Peace Bureau
• Code Pink – Women for Peace
• Peace Action
• Massachusetts Peace Action
• Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
• International Action Center
• Veterans for Peace
• Pivot to Peace
• World Beyond War
• Coalition Peace Initiative
• Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia
• Toronto ALPHA Education

Although there are differences in emphasis among the above world peace organizations, we should be able to join forces to mobilize against any potential war initiated by the U.S.’s hegemonic drive to dominate the world, thus making a coalition peace initiative possible.  We know that this is an extremely difficult task, but the other path, that of war, is just not acceptable.

How To Strengthen the Global Peace Movement:  Besides the people who are in various peace or anti-war organizations, there are many others who are in related movements who can be persuaded to join the peace movement.  For example, people who are in various civil rights or minority rights or women’s rights movements, such as:

• NAACP
• Black Lives Matter
• National Organization for Women
• American Indian Movement (AIM)
• Latinos civil rights and advocacy organization UnidosUS
• 80-20 Initiative
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice
• Organization of Chinese Americans-Asian American Pacific Islanders (OCA-AAPI)
• Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
• Stop AAPI Hate

Although all the previously named organizations provide a good base to build on, this global peace movement will need a much larger base.  Thus, we have a formidable task in front of us.  We need to work earnestly, and intelligently, and we need to be determined and not give up when we encounter any obstacle.  We need to be constantly looking to enlarge the foundation of our global peace movement. 

There is also a very large group of people we may be able to appeal to, and that is Christians, but it will not be easy.  Christians often oppose some of the causes of many of the above organizations. On the other hand, Christians are also against discrimination, injustices, killings, wars, and want to help the down-trodden. Although Christians may have a legitimate concern on abortion, because that is killing a life, but it may also involve the saving of lives, like a mother, or not destroying the life of a young woman in the case of rapes.  Furthermore, Christians are very much pro peace.  That is why there was a large number of Christians who supported the peace movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Some Christians are also against LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender).  However, LGBT people are also people created by God and therefore are all loved by God. That is why Christians can and should be appealed to in the peace/anti-war movement. It is time for Christians to realize the actions and real intention of the U.S. government.

Undo Years of Propaganda and Fabricated News about China:   The U.S. government is very good in the propaganda war against China as well as other countries who hold different political views.  Not only that organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Voice of America (VOA) are well funded and constantly spreading news and information that are at best half-truths and fanning color or umbrella revolutions all over the world, they also have numerous think tanks and non-profit organizations supported with research funds from the U.S. government that produce numerous documents and white papers that tend to support the political views advocated by the U.S. government.  In addition, there is a very large number of mass media sources (such as newspapers, magazines, televisions, radios, and websites) putting out numerous reports everyday repeating the political view of our government.  For example, just look at how the Western mass media have reported on the recent Russia-Ukraine invasion and compare that with the reports on the 2003 U.S.-Iraq invasion, and you can clearly notice the tremendous difference in the amount of coverage, the content of the coverage, the tone and message of the coverage, etc.

It is no wonder that the American public is strongly influenced by the mass media reports they hear, read, and see every day, and they buy into the political message of these reports.  Normally, you trust your government and believe what your government is telling you, unless you have other evidence to believe otherwise.  The U.S. is especially good in presenting an image that the U.S. government is a model government for the world to admire and mimic, even though it is often a false image.  Please see Refs. [6-9], as well as Refs. [2-5]. This is especially the case with what has been happening in the U.S. in the last few years when so many political leaders of the U.S. are engaged in so many obvious activities that contradict the basic principles of democracy, human rights, respect and love for your fellow human beings. How can the U.S. still advertise itself as a model government for the world to admire and mimic. Can we really afford to be silent?

Implications and Significance for 2nd-generation/3rd-generation Chinese Americans:

Chinese Americans, especially 2nd-generation and 3rd-generation Chinese Americans, have grown up in the above atmosphere, can easily believe what they hear and read every day, and buy into that rosy American image. Unless they have seriously studied the issues involved or have personal knowledge or experience around those issues, it often leads to arguments, sometimes divisive arguments between these 2^nd or 3^rd generation Chinese Americans and their 1^st-generation parents or grandparents.  Furthermore, a lot of 1st-generation Chinese Americans may also buy into this rosy depiction of the U.S. It is an important open issue on how Chinese Americans should address and resolve this generational-understanding issue. It is an issue that falls in the domain of the International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas (ISSCO). [10]

This constant depiction of the golden image of the U.S. affects not only Chinese Americans, but also affects other people of the world. So the discussion on Chinese Americans may also be applicable to other groups of people.

One may argue that there seems to be an American Dream in the minds of many Americans as well as other people of the world, isn’t that already an existence proof that the American system of government must have been doing things close to what has been advertised. This is a very important question, and we have actually discussed this issue earlier. [11] [12]. We will not repeat that discussion here, and will just refer you to those two articles.

Summary;

We are at this dangerous fork in the road:  War of Peace  Even though the road of peace is extremely difficult, the alternative path of war is just unimaginary horrifying.  Fortunately, many countries of the world also recognize this critical fork on the road, and they also see the benefits of the multi-lateral world approach to solving the world’s problems and improving the livelihood of the people of the world.  Therefore, there could be a path for peace.

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[1] There are many articles on “U.S.-China Relationship”. Here is just one such article: “Why U.S.-China Relations Are Locked in a Stalemate” published on February 21, 2022 as a Commentary from the “Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.” Most of these articles are written from a U.S. political perspective.

[2] For commentaries on recent US-China Relationship, see this reference: “Campaign to Promote Peace Between the U.S. and China”: https://www.dontow.com/2021/12/campaign-to-promote-peace-between-the-united-states-and-china/, as well as Ref. 3.

[3] “China Is Not the U.S.’ Enemy”: https://www.dontow.com/2021/12/china-is-not-united-states-enemy/.

[4] “Tale of Two Standards in World Politics – Part 1”: https://www.dontow.com/2022/03/tale-of-two-standards-in-world-politics-part-i/.

[5] “Tale of Two Standards in World Politics – Part 2”: https://www.dontow.com/2022/03/tale-of-two-standards-in-world-politics-part-ii/.

[6] Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer, Times Books, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, New York, 2006. This is a book by veteran New York Times writer who reported from over 50 countries and served as the paper’s bureau chief in Turkey, Germany and Nicaragua.

[7] United States involvement in regime change: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change#1991%E2%80%93present:_Post-Cold_War.

[8] “The U.S. tried to change other countries’ governments 72 times during the Cold War,” Lindsey L. O’Rourke, The Washington Post, December 23, 2016: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/12/23/the-cia-says-russia-hacked-the-u-s-election-here-are-6-things-to-learn-from-cold-war-attempts-to-change-regimes/. According to the author, of the 72 times, 60 were covert operations and 6 were overt operations. And among the 60 covert operations, only 20 successfully brought the U.S.-backed government to power, and 40 failed.

[9] The Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia is part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under the administrative control of the U.S. after WWII. It was here that the U.S. tested nuclear weapons 67 times between 1946 and 1958. There are several documentaries on Marshall Islands and the sufferings experienced by the Marshall Islands natives from the numerous nuclear bomb testings there. The best one is probably the one made in 2011 by Adam Jonas Horowitz:  “Nuclear Savage:  The Islands of Secret Project 4.1.”  You can see a 7-minute summary of this documentary for free at https://vimeo.com/30869044.

[10] This is an important issue for the International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas (ISSCO), which will have its 30 year anniversary conference on Nov. 11-12, 2022 in San Francisco on the topic “Diasporic Futures: Sinophobia, Techno-Political Strife, and the Politics of Care.” I will be presenting at this conference a paper titled “Fork on the Road: War or Peace” whose content has a lot of resemblance to the current article.

[11] “Tale of Two Standards in World Politics – Part II”: https://www.dontow.com/2022/03/tale-of-two-standards-in-world-politics-part-ii/ has a section called “Revisiting the American Dream,” which elaborates on the earlier article of Ref. 12.

[12] “Can the American Dream Be Continued?”: https://www.dontow.com/2010/01/can-the-american-dream-be-continued/.