The American public's goodwill towards China is continuously declining, reaching a level of animosity.
The changes in the way the U.S. Ambassador to China refers to China reflect the U.S. attitude under its unilateral hegemonic sanctions and containment policies.
China has long been fully prepared to respond comprehensively and is ready for battle at any time.
The China-U.S. relationship is considered one of the most important bilateral relationships in today’s world.
Any foreign policy decisions or frictions between the two countries could trigger global turmoil.
Thus, China and the U.S. remain the focal point of the international community. Although China has consistently hoped to maintain a peaceful and friendly cooperative relationship with the U.S., seeking a win-win situation, the U.S. attitude seems to be inconsistent.
According to a report from U.S. Chinese media on October 26, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released a poll that day, asking respondents to score their feelings towards China on a scale from 0 to 100.
The survey results showed that the average rating for Americans' feelings towards China is only 26, the lowest score since the organization began polling in 1978.
This result indicates that, on a 100-point scale, 60 is considered passing, while 26 falls far short of that standard.
Even more concerning, other think tanks have published similar data, showing that over 80% of respondents have a very low opinion of China, generally considering it a strong competitor and even using the term "hostile" to describe their feelings.
The main reasons for this situation can be summarized as follows:
First, the confrontational relationship between China and the U.S.
In the context of global trade, there is actually significant complementary potential between China and the U.S., where cooperation could lead to win-win outcomes. However, since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the U.S. has been wary of China's rise, making every effort to suppress and block China's developmental path, especially in the fields of economy, technology, and military.
The series of policies and actions from the U.S. actually reflect a fear of China’s developmental potential.
Nevertheless, China is unwilling to be suppressed by the U.S. With the indomitable resilience of the Chinese people, China has completed in just a few decades the developmental journey that took Western countries centuries, with frequent breakthroughs in technology and the economy.
Against this backdrop, the U.S. has not only strengthened its military deployments in the Asia-Pacific region but also instigated a trade war under then-President Trump.
Although this trade war has been ongoing for six years, its effects are still significant today.
Now, with the 2024 U.S. elections approaching, Trump is making a comeback, and there is a high probability that he will return to the White House, which also means a renewed possibility of a trade war.
This intense confrontational stance, coupled with the U.S. media’s deliberate hype of the so-called "China threat," has led the American public to blame China for the economic crisis and inflation they face.
Thus, the emergence of an "anti-China" attitude is no longer surprising.
Second, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although it has been less than two years since the full reopening from COVID-19, the effects of this event are still profound.
In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic first broke out in China.
While China was fully committed to prevention and saving patients, Western countries led by the U.S. openly accused China without any evidence, even blaming China for the "origin" of the pandemic and demanding large reparations.
To prove its innocence, China invited a team of experts from the World Health Organization to conduct a tracing investigation, ultimately finding that China was merely the first victim and not the so-called origin of the pandemic.
In contrast, the U.S. Fort Detrick bio-laboratory exhibited related symptoms before the pandemic broke out, yet this was forcefully covered up.
To this day, the U.S. still refuses to allow WHO expert teams to enter the country, further solidifying suspicions of wrongdoing.
Despite this, the preconceived notion has already formed, and many Americans continue to attribute issues such as the outbreak of the pandemic, unemployment, and economic losses to China, which is also a significant reason for the low goodwill.
Third, the geopolitical game between China and the U.S. Since the beginning of the 21st century, China's rapid rise has made the U.S. nervous, viewing China as the "greatest threat."
U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns stated at a conference in Beijing that the U.S.-China relationship is a systematic competitive relationship, which could last for ten years or more.
He further claimed that the U.S.-China relationship is filled with competition, but the U.S. tries to maintain cooperation with China amid competition, which presents a "strategic dilemma" for the U.S.
In simple terms, the U.S. finds itself in an awkward situation of "not wanting to cooperate but having to cooperate," realizing it cannot crush China while also being unable to accept the development of a country that threatens its hegemony.
This is why the U.S. continues to impose sanctions on China in various fields like new energy electric vehicles and semiconductors while maintaining close trade relations.
Meanwhile, the American public does not fully understand this great power game; they only notice their dwindling wages, rising prices of oil and goods, and the U.S. media's frequent hype about "Chinese overcapacity," which ultimately leads them to blame China for these issues.
The U.S. government's hostility towards China is evidently very irrational.
As the most important bilateral relationship in the world, only when China and the U.S. can coexist peacefully will the world be able to move towards the correct development trajectory.
True cooperation can only be achieved on the basis of mutual understanding and respect, allowing both countries to jointly tackle global challenges.
In the future, the relationship between China and the U.S. will continue to attract widespread attention from the international community.
It is hoped that both sides can find common ground for cooperation based on understanding and tolerance, and work together to promote world peace and prosperity.
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