China News Agency, Berlin, August 6, title: German writer Ludes: Why do we have to step out of the shadow of the United States?
China News Agency reporter Peng Dawei
Ruders’s new book "The Hypocrite America" (also translated as "The Hypocritical Superpower-Why We Must Get Out of the Shadow of America"), officially published in March 2021, was on the German bestseller list as soon as it appeared.
Rüdiger Goebel, the deputy editor-in-chief of the German "Youth Le Monde", commented that the book can be called "an enlightenment on geopolitics and manipulation of public opinion".
Rudes.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
"The United States is not a selfless'overlord', but an empire (in the Western sense)-although our public opinion machine here often promotes the opposite fact. The Trump era is not purely an'accident', Biden There will be many changes in the United States under the government, but the one that remains unchanged is'America First'.” On the back cover of the book, the author summarizes the core views that the author Ruders hopes to express to his target audience-German and European readers. People should not respond. The United States has illusions about transatlantic relations, "Europe must get out of Washington's shadow."
Michael Lueders is a famous German journalist, writer, and expert on Middle East issues.
He was born in Bremen, Germany in 1959. He studied Arabic literature in Damascus, Syria, and Islamic studies, political science, and journalism in Berlin.
Ludes received his Ph.D. with his research on Egyptian film.
He has served as a Middle East correspondent for Die Zeit, a leading German serious media, for many years, and produced documentaries for German TV stations SWR and WDR.
Ludes currently lives in Berlin and works as a policy consultant, current affairs commentator, and writing.
How to understand the essence of the "empire" of the United States?
From a war in Iraq initiated by "washing powder" lies to today's new crown virus witch hunting game, how does the United States use the hegemony of public opinion to maintain its position?
How should Europeans get out of the shadow of the United States?
How should China overcome the US's lead to discredit and maintain its own image?
China News Agency "Question of East and West" recently conducted an exclusive interview with Lu Des on the above topics.
Cover of "Pseudo-Holy America".
Photo by Peng Dawei
The United States has been manipulating public opinion to promote hegemony for a long time
In the preface of "Pseudo-Holy America", Ludes stated clearly that the United States is an "Imperium" in the Western sense: the essence of empire lies in its imperialist policies, which means that the For opponents or competitors in the political sense, the United States will weaken and disrupt them as much as possible. Specific measures include subversion, sanctions, or military intervention.
The book points out that the United States portrays itself as a "guarantor of democracy and human rights," claiming that its international behavior is based on "values"-but the essence behind it is barbaric real politics.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has overthrown countless governments worldwide, but the local people have paid the price.
This happened in Iran in 1953, Guantanamo in 1954, and Chile in 1973.
For another example, the United States launched a war based on lies in 2003 with false "evidence", rallying its allies into Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and falling into chaos in Iraq.
The book reveals how the United States manipulates public opinion through "precise public opinion management methods". Examples of these include "yesterday's war in Iraq, and today's disputes with Iran, Russia, and China."
The specific cases it analyzed include the seizure of the Iranian "Grace One" oil tanker in 2019, the assassination of Iranian Major General Qasim Soleimani in January 2020, and the arrest of the "whistleblower" Catherine Gun.
The latest case of the US manipulating public opinion is the stigmatization of China since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic.
Data map: On January 1, 2021 local time, a citizen of San Francisco, California, USA, was relaxing in a park.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Guanguan
"Use the virus as a weapon": American public opinion war aims to get rid of the pot
In Ludes's view, from the Iraq war to today's disputes surrounding the origin of the new crown virus, the United States has consistently manipulated public opinion.
He pointed out that among the many methods and methods to influence public opinion, the most "effective" is undoubtedly dividing the world into "good" and "bad."
"Generally speaking, any country that competes with the United States in both economic and political terms will be classified as a'bad country.' This is particularly obvious when the United States is dealing with Russia and China." Des elaborated on the practice of the United States since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic as an example.
He pointed out that long before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the US government had already "focused" on China.
When the epidemic broke out, the U.S. government quickly used the terms "Wuhan virus" and "Chinese virus", and at the same time, through the mouth of the so-called experts, it threw out the phrase "the virus came from a laboratory in China". The "starter" of propaganda.
Rudds emphasized that the Trump administration "declared war" on the new crown crisis, and its first fight was not the virus, but China. This is precisely to cover up the US government's ineffectiveness in fighting the epidemic. By the end of 2020, the US has 350,000. People have died from the new crown and more than 20 million people have been infected. "Almost no second country has shown such incompetence when it is hit by a pandemic."
He pointed out that in order to save the election, the Trump team approached O'Donnell Partners in New York (a public relations firm), which in April 2020 provided the U.S. Republicans with a 60-page document on how to use The core message of the "propaganda manual" used by the new crown epidemic to discredit China is "Don't defend Trump, but attack China."
Rudes described the US approach as using the "virus as a weapon": Trump repeatedly pressured the WHO and domestic intelligence agencies to find "evidence" that could prove that "the virus originated from the Wuhan laboratory."
In fact, CNN in the United States also pointed out that the reason for seeking to hold "China responsible for the epidemic" is to divert people's attention from the mistakes Trump made in response to the epidemic.
In fact, the aforementioned "propaganda manual" prepared by the Trump team for Republicans also includes the description of what is happening in Xinjiang, China as a "Nazi concentration camp"-this is a pain point targeting the Christian conservatives, the main group of voters in the Republican Party.
Also used for hype is the issue of fentanyl.
Against this background, Ludes reviewed the origin of the current wave of anti-China waves in the West. In May 2020, the Trump administration began to launch a large-scale public opinion offensive and manipulate public opinion, and allies such as Germany on the other side of the Atlantic also Soon it followed the American argument.
"This is like what happened when Iran or Russia was demonized. It provides not a basis for facts, but to create a hostile image, and then uses'public relations' to promote its own agenda, that is, to maintain the dominant position of the United States. ."
Data map: On January 20, 2021, local time, in Washington, USA, Trump boarded the "Marine Corps One" presidential helicopter.
Trump is gone, "America First" is still there
Ludes used the example of Assange, the "whistleblower", to reveal the hypocrisy and double standards of the United States.
He pointed out that if Assange had half of the attention, enthusiasm, and collective sympathy of the editor-in-chief of the major media that the Russian opposition activist Navalny had received, then he would have already escaped from the British prison and would not have to suffer health. Destroyed blow.
He pointed out that this is all for the purpose of deterring reporters who criticize the US empire and ensuring that they can be extradited to the United States mercilessly.
Taking into account the imperial nature of the United States, Rudes reminded people that Trump’s entry into the White House was not an accident, and the US government after Biden took office tended to overhaul public relations, but the actual policy level is still " A set of "America First".
In response to the double standards of the United States and the West, the reporter pointed out to Ludes that, considering that Austria and Switzerland have introduced regulations banning the wearing of masks, why the same approach is called "de-radicalization" in Europe. China's Xinjiang issue is called "genocide"?
When the West reported that Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, they used "terrorists and thugs" to describe them. When they reported that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Legislative Council was attacked by thugs, they claimed that they were "peaceful demonstrators." ?
In response, Ludes responded that the violations of human rights in those pro-Western countries have only been lightly taken by the Western political circles and the media, and those countries that do not belong to the same camp as him in the West, even if they are pure Issues that belong to the internal affairs level will also be heavily criticized in the name of "human rights."
Data map: On the afternoon of May 6, social distancing people sat and rested on the green space of James Simon Park next to the Museum Island in Berlin.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Peng Dawei
Europe must step out of the shadow of the United States, China should resolutely walk its own path
As the subtitle of "Pseudo-Holy America" says, Ludes hopes that the target audience of the book, Germans and Europeans, can get out of the shadow of the United States.
He pointed out that the United States is a declining world power. The question Europe must ask itself is how to defend its own interests in a changing world.
"We can't afford the cost of playing Washington's'little brother' for a long time."
He called on the Germans and Europeans not to have illusions about the Atlantic relations after Biden came to power, because "Like any previous U.S. president since the end of World War II, in order to ensure his own dominance, Biden will not hesitate to use it on a global scale. Military and intelligence forces will launch wars when necessary."
He warned that if Germany and the European Union cannot increase their weight in the face of the United States in the future, they will be strategically reduced to the lives of hundreds or thousands of voters in the US "swing states."
"Europe-especially the European Union-should not choose sides when the United States and China conflict. Brussels, Berlin, Paris and London should all think carefully and should maintain good relations with both China and the United States, while trying to mediate between Washington and Beijing. The doubts between them. Any one-sided positioning is politically unwise, and it is even more harmful economically.” Rudes said.
Under the offensive of public opinion in the United States, how should China increase trust and resolve doubts in Europe?
Ludes pointed out that most Europeans do not know China, they are not familiar with Chinese history, and they know very little about the centuries of humiliation left by the colonialism of European powers and Japanese militarism in China.
In his view, Chinese leaders think about issues with a long-term perspective, and the "Belt and Road" initiative has such a vision.
"To eliminate prejudice and ignorance against China, a similar long-term plan is also needed." He believes that soft power is of great benefit to improving China's image. China may wish to build its own "Hollywood" to allow Chinese films to have a greater share of the world market. Share.
In addition, the expansion of cultural and scientific exchanges is also a very important aspect. To this end, it is necessary to simplify the difficulty of visa issuance-many Chinese have visited Europe, but the number of Europeans visiting China is still limited.
"The survey shows that most Europeans hope that the relationship with China can develop well, and they have no prejudice against the Chinese. This is a good foundation for the two sides to improve the level of relations."
The back cover of "Pseudo-Holy America".
Photo by Peng Dawei
The back cover of "Pseudo-Holy America" selected a famous photo of Trump supporters violently breaking into the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
Talking about the metaphor of this picture, Ludes pointed out that the United States is a declining superpower, while China is rising. In order to fight the decline trend, Washington has continuously imposed political, military and economic policies on China, Russia and other countries. Pressure.
"What the U.S. government seeks is confrontation rather than dialogue. In the face of this approach, the best strategy is not to be disturbed by its provocations at any time, but to stick to its own path." (End)