The inherent biases of Asian thinking and perception of China and the USA

Hsien Loong has just given a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Below are some quotes in his speech that revealed the inherent biases of Asians in their thinking with respect to China and the USA after decades of western influence and colonisation of their minds from reading western literature and narratives. Practically every Asian leader is affected by this kind of thinking with very few exceptions. They are blind to the flaws and crimes of the American Empire but acquired an acute sensitivity that everything associated with China is bad and negative but did not know why. I will treat each paragraph individually to explain the thinking behind it. The speech is reported in CNA online.

'SINGAPORE: While the “fundamental problem” between the US and China is a mutual lack of strategic trust that bodes ill for compromise or peaceful accommodation, a face-off between the two countries is not a “strategic inevitability”, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.'

What is the glaring point in this paragraph? The fundamental problem is a mutual lack of strategic trust?  China mistrusted the Americans for sure, from the hot and cold war between the two with China being labelled as the devil and evil country since it became the PRC.  But China was and is not the party that is putting up all the barriers and rhetoric of enmity between the two. It is the USA that is blocking China in everything, every field, every where. The Americans have been containing the Chinese, isolating it from the rest of the world, from the world economy until the rapproachment between Nixon and Mao and subsequently the joining of WTO.

Even then, till today, the Americans have been blocking China from participating in almost every thing related to high technology, in space, science and technology and military hardware. The Americans practically condemned China as their arch enemy. It is in their psyche since time immemorial. This is not the case from the perspective of China.  The Chinese called the USA the 'beautiful country' 美国, instead of some derogatory name. 

The lack of trust is heavily weighed on the side of the Americans. You can see how abusive and reckless the Americans are today in the South China Sea, in opposing BRI, AIIB, and now Huawei.  

But when Asian leaders talked about the two super powers, they always take the stand that both are equally to be blamed and the responsibility lies on China, the bad one.  The truth is that the Americans are the main cause of conflict and mistrust between the two super powers. Read this sentence below,

“In fact, the US has made clear its intention to compete robustly, though in a different mode than before.”

The Americans approach to compete is 'robust'? The Americans are warmongers, aggressive, provocative and belligerent all over the world, but described as 'robust' while China is always described as aggressive, belligerent, assertive and expansionist and wanting to eat up and conquer the world for building roads and rails and infrastructures and trade with the rest of the world. 

Can see the inherent biases? The Americans are starting wars, conducting wars and provoking wars in the South China Sea and East China Sea and a full blown trade war with China with thousands of military bases all over the world.

“Chinese leaders have spoken up strongly in support of globalisation and a rules-based international order,” he added.

“China must now convince other countries through its actions that it does not take a transactional and mercantilist approach, but rather an enlightened and inclusive view of its long-term interests.”

What have China been doing all the while? Starting wars, provoking wars, inciting wars, like the Americans so it needs to change to convince the world that it is a friendly power? What china is doing in rebuilding the world is not enlighten enough?

“China should resolve these disputes peacefully, in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” he said.

“It should do so through diplomacy and compromise rather than force or the threat of force, while giving weight to the core interests and rights of other countries.

“Then over time it will build its reputation as a responsible and benevolent power that need not be feared. Instead China will be respected as a power that can be relied on to support a stable and peaceful region.”

These are the things that China is doing, the BRI that is reconnecting the whole of Asia, Europe and Africa and even to the two Americas, for trade. But the evil Americans have been badmouthing China and called this an aggressive and expansionist plan by China to conquer the world. And some stupid Asian leaders believe in this shit. Fortunately not all are that stupid to believe the Americans. The more than 160 countries participating in the BRI is confirmation that China is doing the right thing.

And there is the AIIB to finance infrastructure projects for Asian and African countries, cheap loans with no string attached as opposed to those from the World Bank, IMF and ADB controlled by the Americans and the West and Japan. The results of China's contribution to the world is profound but mostly unreported in the West. Read this,

 'The world has also benefited from China’s development and success, Mr Lee said.

“China has become a massive production and manufacturing base, lowering costs for the world’s producers, first for labour-intensive goods, and now increasingly for high-tech and technology-intensive production,” he said.

“It is also a huge market, importing everything from commodities and electronic components to aircraft and fine wines.

“On the consumer side, billions of people worldwide buy all manner of products, from Barbie dolls and basketballs to drones and mobile phones, made in China, though often incorporating foreign components and technology.”

While China has done well at home by lifting more than 700m of its people out of poverty, it is also helping the rest of the world by lowering their cost of living, by producing cheap and reliable products to make their lives better, improve their lives with many consumables at prices they could afford, and the ease and convenience of road and rail connectivity.

And silly questions were asked with the same inherent biases by the audience. Here is one.

'After his speech, Mr Lee was asked about what he would say to Chinese leaders to increase the "comfort level" between China and other Asian countries.

Pointing to a television series shown in China which detailed how superpowers like the US and UK rose and fell, Mr Lee said "you must emerge peacefully and you must be able to do so in a way which wins acceptance from the global community".

"So, you may be the superpower but you have to have legitimacy, you have to have soft power; it’s not just force," he added.

Mr Lee said while China understands this in the "intellectual sense", it was very difficult to implement it practically. This is because countries would find it hard to put themselves in others' shoes and conclude differently about their own image, he added.'

"It’s very, very hard," Mr Lee stated. "For a big country, it’s even harder."

The Prime Minister said there’s something to be learnt from the US presence in Asia since the war, adding that the country has been welcomed and has "many friends" in the region.'

The question and reply said what? China is a bull in a china shop, a rogue, still did not know how to behave like the nice and peace loving Americans when they came to Asia! But they refused to recognise the fact that China has risen as a super power without firing a shot, without going to war, but peacefully. Yes. China has risen, peacefully.

Reflect on the situation when the Americans came, there was the evil and barbaric Japanese Imperial Army running amok in Asia, killing looting, plundering and seizing control of the countries. The Americans came at a time of despair and were seen as a savior. Further, those were times when many Asian countries were still non countries, non entity in a way, still colonies and then new countries that were hungry and need to rebuild their countries. They have no time to talk about challenging an imperial power but to rebuild their countries economically and as new nations.

The Americans came to restore a new peace and brought wealth and trade, allowing the rebuilding of countries in the region is a small way, nothing comparable to the Marshall Plan for Europe or the current BRI. The new countries made do with what they had and any little improvement is better than the days of wars and Japanese brutalities.  Don't forget Vietnam, it was colonisation all over again if the Vietnamese did not fight and die for their country, colonisation by the Americans. South Korea and Japan are still semi colonies of the USA but pretending to be independent nations. They are still prevented from joining the BRI by the Americans and now Huawei's 5G.

China's emergence as a super power came at a time of peace and with each nation state very conscious of their nationality and sovereignty. The only dispute in the region is the South China Sea that the Americans are stirring all the shit, forgetting and refusing to tell the true story and agreements after the defeat of the Japanese invaders. The islands were returned to China by the victorious power over Japan.

Today, the problem is that the neigbouring countries are making claims and seizing these islands belonging to China with the encouragement of the Americans, to stir divisiveness, divide and rule. The greedy little countries around the South China Sea took the American bait and got more aggressive in their claims on Chinese islands with the Americans pointing the finger at China as the aggressor when the reality is the reverse.

The Americans would continue to paint China as an evil and expansionist power trying to conquer the world and the South East Asian countries in particular, and the silly Asian leaders cannot think further than this lie. To them, China is the big bad wolf and the Americans are the white knights to save them from the big bad wolf. The real wolf is in sheep's clothing that they could not see and also refuse to see and would love to sleep in the same bed.

Why must China convince the Asian countries when it is helping them in trade and infrastructure development? The only thing bad about China is because the Americans said so, white lies. When would Asian leaders see through the layers of American deceit and find their own truth? If they are unable to do so, they would constantly live their lives believing in American white lies. They would formulate policies the Americans wanted them to and regard China as the enemy when the real enemy is behind them urging them to go against China, and be an enemy of China.

 China is trouble, Americans are the good guys despite the millions they killed and wounded in all the unceasing wars they started and engaged in Asia and the rest of the world.

 Below is the latest from the American Secretary of War, Shanahan.

“[Some] actors undermine the system by using indirect, incremental actions and rhetorical devices to exploit others economically and diplomatically, and coerce them militarily. They destabilise the region, seeking to reorder its vibrant and diverse communities toward their exclusive advantage,”

Silly Asians and Asian leaders would read this as referring to China but not the Americans that are doing exactly these in a 'robust' way, sanctions, threats of war, regime change, coercion, conspiracies, bullying, provocations and false flag incidents etc etc.