context: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently dismissed China’s claim to be a ‘near-Arctic state’. Resort to talk of ‘clash of civilisations’ by the Trump administration compounds Beijing’s resentment of US tariffs and sanctions on Iranian oil imports. Sino-US codependency and engagement are shelved in favour of a postulated value cleavage.
Recent US comments on ‘clash of civilisations’ and use of ‘civilisation’ to project power politics and hegemony, writes Xinhua, illustrates its arrogance and bigotry, and is quite uncivilised. China and the US should seek common ground, it advises, while strengthening dialogue with an open mind and making efforts to ‘crack the myth’ of the clash of civilisations.
Civilisations cannot be distinguished as ‘high’ or ‘low’; calls for ‘clash of civilisations’ reflect a Cold War mentality.
The US has adopted condescending and bullying attitudes towards China, says Xinhua, evidenced in statements like ‘the Chinese have lived a good life for too long’, ‘expel China from the WTO’, and ‘the US rebuilt China’. They highlight US ignorance of its own history, says Xinhua: its multicultural society came at a great price.
By contrast, the historical record indicates that Chinese have always valued
- equality above arrogance
- respect above prejudice
- communication above confrontation
- tolerance above exclusion
- peace above confrontation
Valuing peace, China will not initiate ‘clashes’ with others and Chinese civilisation has never created a ‘clash of civilisations’, says Xinhua.