Chinas Rise and Sino-American relations

Seminar taught by Dr. Li Xiaoting (Chinese Name)

SofAdvanceInternacionalAreaStudies

China as a threat
Leon Jonathan Montiel Gonzalez,

The idea of regarding China as a potential threat can be traced back centuries ago when the first
western expeditions were taken. China -the unknown, mysterious Middle Kingdom- was subject
to many speculations and misbelieves due to the unlucky approach of western early Christian
world conception (Weltanschanung) trying to meet, and eventually failing, to hack a quite
diverse developed cultural identity. Unfortunately, this state of affairs has not changed a bit since

then. On my view point, this is due to a still iron-like anti-China prejudice, the fear of the other
(Roy, 1996: 764).
There are some reasons that make China a threat under the Western scope. First of all, China is
not a white country ruled neither by democracy, religion (Christian values) nor economic
neoliberal agenda. Not to mention the clearly open xenophobic bias, a byproduct exclusively
delivered, in fact inherited from the golden colonial, expansionist realm which reached its top
during the 19th century. In fact, the fall of China as the last aboriginal culture, can be regarded
as the top victory for Colonialism. No wonder, it is called the century of humiliation -in terms
of Chinese scholars; a disruption which broke a continuum for a culture which developed itself
independently for millennia.
However, China recovered, struggled with all the past events, reinventing itself. It had to deal
with some minor failures during Chairman Maos administration, but everybody knows that
every beginning is hard, especially when fixing a torn country. During postwar, China built both
experience and confidence, starting an exhausting diplomacy exercise that lasts till now. At least
it has been highlighted on Xi Jipings discourses (Swaine 2014) and will be one of the main
objectives to be reached by 2049.
The key moment in Chinas rise was only after the so called opening up reform. At that point,
China started to play the same rules imposed by the West (with displeasure of course) instead of
being enclosed in its own millennial, rusty form of thinking about government and governance.
China joined the international plateau observing these rules on detail, performing strategically
since the very beginning holding all the intention of adapting fast and safe in order to become a
heavy figure.

This search for power has been soundly meditated; it is not a miracle in any terms. Now that
China plays big cards, the whole western political system starts to stumble, as China has
mastered the rules, and its power is imminent. It seems very clear, that now that this western
political system is collapsing, new propaganda against Chinas rise is appearing on the media, a
factic power that enables the shaping of fragile, virtual, short term, but still believable realities,
enhancing or worsening any political situation. In the case of China, foreign media acts always
on the way of streaming the less fortunate aspects, not paying attention to the facts themselves,
but obeying the interests of US and its numerous allies in the form of governments as well as
wealthy corporations.
China is and forever will be a threat for US hegemony because anything that makes US look less
powerful is a threat itself, in terms of its endless hunger for power and violence. There is no
question that its bloody agenda does not permit any kind of rivals, only weak allies. In this vein,
there is no surprise that American scholars may perceive China as a dangerous enemy able to
act as violent as US, even worse, forcing people to live under miserable conditions as US has
made lived to several countries for the last years.
Moreover, when US sees in China the last powerful left in the world (a huge threat itself for the
American thinking), they do not pay attention that right on the opposite side US remains as the
last imperial, expansionist, colonialist power, escalating violence, violation of human rights,
unfair economic treaties, teaching that democracy is the only solution to be adopted for everyone
in order to avoid any problems, originated by disobeying the tyrants sweet policy.
China has the chance to become the biggest influential government in Asia if it really is willing
to cooperate with its neighbors, opening the gates to investment and mutual cooperation. In that

context, China can really influence if taking a suitable diplomatic agenda, coping with
international organisms out of the reach of US purposes, proposing a balance of power based on
mutual cooperation that brings harmonious outcomes, instead of the perennial one sided
democratic world perspective.