An article published in the American magazine Foreign Policy warned that the outbreak of a cold war between the United States and China could affect the rights and freedoms of Americans, and recalled the experience Americans lived during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

For Americans, a new Cold War between Washington and Beijing is no longer a matter of debate, and stressed that it is also necessary to understand that the United States triumphed over its adversary by enshrining the principles of freedom rather than the tyranny that was engulfing the Soviet Union.

This scenario should be replicated with China, he said.


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Smith added that remembering the Cold War with the former Soviet Union in the context of a new Cold War with China remains a risky issue for multiple reasons, including that the American imagination depended on the idea that the United States will inevitably win a Cold War, as well as that a new Cold War that may last for decades will have a significant negative impact on the psyche of Americans, even if the United States emerges victorious.

In addition, the defeat of "tyrannical evil" has had a heavy cost to freedoms at home, for example, as McCarthyism has emerged that has been quick to accuse thousands of American citizens, officials, and employees of sympathizing with communism and questioning their loyalty to their country.


Smith warned that such a scenario could be repeated now, with growing anti-China political rhetoric, which could raise suspicion and discrimination against Asian Americans, and said that if it does, no one should be surprised by it.

He stressed that the escalation of tension with China over Taiwan or the economic policies Beijing considers its target, does not necessarily have negative effects on American society domestically. Smith spoke of what happened after the September 11 attacks, where numerous legal abuses including indefinite detention, torture, ethnic profiling and numerous security harassment were committed, which he said should not happen.

He stressed that American interests can only be served by preserving the values that Americans cherish, and constitute a model that others seek to apply.