This month, the United States stepped up efforts to tout its so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy."
From May 12th to 13th, the US-ASEAN Leaders' Extraordinary Summit was held in Washington.
Immediately after that, US President Biden visited South Korea and Japan from the 20th to the 24th.
The clear goal behind a series of layouts is to ask Asian countries to contribute money and efforts to help the United States maintain its hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region. What exactly has the ambitious "Indo-Pacific strategy" brought to the Asia-Pacific region?
Let's watch this week's "Blue Hall Observation" together
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The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework: Confronting China
On the first trip to Asia under US President Joe Biden, China was named everywhere.
U.S. officials and the media are not shy about how Biden coordinates with South Korea, Japan and other countries to contain China.
CNN said in the report:
(President Biden) 5-day trip from South Korea to Japan,
hoping to counter China's growing influence in the region (Asia Pacific).
Since Biden announced the launch of the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" in Japan on the 23rd, 14 countries, including the United States, have officially joined the group.
The "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" is regarded as the economic lever of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" of the United States.
The framework contains four key pillars: "Fair Trade", "Resilient Supply Chains", "Clean Energy and Infrastructure", "Taxation and Anti-Corruption".
The United States aims to use this to compete exclusively with China in terms of supply chain and digital trade, and even further reduce its dependence on Chinese manufacturing in the supply chain.
Simply put,
"fighting against China" is the most prominent label of this framework.
In this regard, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin pointed out on May 25:
In the name of "cooperation", this "framework" is an attempt to establish U.S.-led trade rules, reorganize the industrial chain system,
and "decouple" regional countries from the Chinese economy.
Everyone will see clearly that
the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" is a design to disrupt regional cooperation and a tool to coerce regional countries.
Ong Shi Kit, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Malaysian Parliament and Chairman of the New Asia Strategic Research Center, said:
This so-called "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" is not an inclusive and prosperous economic cooperation agreement.
What the US emphasizes is that
the rules under this "framework" must be determined by itself.
The unilateral "one-size-fits-all" approach by the United States completely ignores the fact that the founding member countries have different levels of development, as well as the uneven standards of labor and environmental protection.
This is in very strong contrast with the "Belt and Road" initiative's extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.
Indo-Pacific Strategy: Creating an "Asia-Pacific Version of NATO"
The United States declares that the goal of its "Indo-Pacific Strategy" is to "build a free and open Indo-Pacific region."
It sounds "full of positive energy", but what has the United States actually done?
Exaggerating China's
"
threat
" in the South China Sea in
an attempt to create regional tension and sow discord between China and its neighbors; strengthen alliances such as the United States and Japan, and close up exclusive
"
small circles
"
; smear
the "
Belt and Road
"
and undermine regional cooperation
...
Obviously,
the real purpose of the
US concocting
the "
Indo-Pacific Strategy
" is to create
an " America First " " Asia- Pacific version of NATO " .
Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the
US attempt to exclude China is both "ridiculous" and "impossible":
In the Asian region, the US is trying to exclude China,
which is actually ridiculous and impossible.
Geographically speaking, we are an Asian country.
Countries have established relatively good relations of cooperation and development.
After the United States came in, it cannot be said that another major country was excluded or excluded.
The good-neighborly policy adopted by China is a win-win cooperation, which then promotes the development of all countries and brings prosperity to the region.
Indo-Pacific Strategy: Doomed to Fail
The United States is pressing forward step by step, while China maintains its strategic focus and firmly safeguards its own interests.
In response to Biden's latest Taiwan-related remarks, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned the United States that there is no force in the world, including the United States, that can stop the Chinese people from achieving complete national reunification.
The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army has also recently organized joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan Island, and issued a stern warning to the US-Taiwan connection.
China sends a clear signal - "a friend comes with good wine, and a jackal comes with a shotgun to greet him."
On the other hand,
China's diplomacy continued to exert its full force.
The day before Biden's visit to South Korea, on the evening of the 19th, China, as the presidency, successfully hosted a video meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers, sending out a strong message of solidarity and cooperation.
From the 21st to the 22nd, the Pakistani Foreign Minister visited China, and the two sides reached important consensus in five areas.
On the 26th, the Chinese Foreign Minister opened an official visit to eight countries including the Solomon Islands, promoting cooperation in various fields to a new level.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal stated that
a win-win should always be advocated instead of a lose-lose:
We want to see a world where the international community can come together to tackle the challenges we face today, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, hunger and poverty.
We should always advocate the search for peace through dialogue and the replacement of lose-lose with win-win.
Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou pointed out that
China always represents stability and positive energy:
Japan and the United States are under the banner of "free and open Indo-Pacific", but in essence, we think they are regaining the Cold War mentality and engaging in "small circles" of geopolitical games.
The Asia-Pacific region is the foundation of China's development and prosperity.
We will build the "Belt and Road" into the world's largest international cooperation platform, promote the signing, entry into force and high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and formally apply for joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership 》 (CPTPP).
China has always represented stability and positive energy, and has always actively advocated, promoted and maintained the correct direction of Asia-Pacific cooperation.
Facing a turbulent and changing world, a peaceful and stable Asia took the lead in breaking out of the haze of the epidemic.
In 2021, the GDP growth rate will be as high as 6.3%.
China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years.
In the first quarter of this year, China's total imports and exports to ASEAN amounted to 1.35 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%.
Analysis:
History has proven that the key to success in the Asia-Pacific is win-win cooperation, and the US "Indo-Pacific strategy", which creates division, incites confrontation and undermines peace, is unpopular in the Asia-Pacific region and is doomed to fail.
Producer丨Sun Yanfeng Zhanglin Wangyu
Reporter丨Huang Huixin, Huang Da, Zhu Ruomeng, He Xinlei, Li Jun, Guo Min, Gao Zhiming, Ruan Xiaoxuan
Think Tank Support丨Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies, Renmin University of China