Dying hegemony
Bizarre bills against China show US politicians’ futile attempt to salvage waning influence: observers
Bills to confront China have been piling up in the US Congress in the past months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which analysts said is reflective of unrealistic yet radical appeals to contain China. Such attempts are made regardless of the sacrifices to the China-US relationships and people-to-people exchanges. Chinese experts said that such bills, which would for sure not affect China, do not manifest US prowess but its decay as the country is struggling to keep its global hegemony.
There have been at least 388 bills and resolutions related to China under the 116th US Congress (20192021) that can be tracked under the GovTrack.us, an official website profiling the bills brought to the US Congress.
The bills and resolutions attack or harm China’s interests and sovereignty, covering issues such as Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pennsylvanian Republican Scott Perry in mid-May introduced a bill to the house on China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, calling for authorization of the US president to recognize Tibet as “a separate, independent country.”
Stability among nations, especially big countries, is based on respect for each other’s vital core and key interests. If some US senators advocate the independence of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the island of Taiwan, it will lead to sharp problems between the big powers and even military conflicts, Li Haidong, an expert from the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Instead of thinking of the important trust given to them by voters to manage the country’s internal affairs well, they have been constantly antagonizing China and triggering confrontations. When disputes arise, they are less likely to settle US domestic affairs, betraying voters’ trust, Li said.
Hypocrites in high places
Many of these bills are related to the COVID 19 pandemic, with many based on US politicians’ groundless accusations against China in handling the coronavirus.
A resolution introduced on March 24 by Republican Senator for Tennessee Marsha Blackburn expressed “the sense of the Senate that the government of China made multiple serious mistakes in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak that heightened the severity and spread of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including the intentional spread of misinformation to downplay the risks of COVID-19, a refusal to cooperate with international health authorities, internal censorship of doctors and journalists, and a malicious disregard for the health of ethnic minorities.”
All of Blackburn’s accusations against China have been widely rejected by global scientists, top medical researchers, and the WHO. Experts said the
Senator blinds herself from China’s efforts in leading global cooperation in epidemic control and practicing its vows to share the research data of vaccines with the world public. Another resolution, introduced on the same day, March 24, by Republican sponsor Joshua Hawley supports “an international investigation into the handling by the government of China of COVID-19 and the impact of handling COVID-19 in that manner on the people of the US and other nations.”
Analysts suggest such rhetoric reflects the hegemonic mentality of the US, while these Senators ignore the fact that the US is exactly the one avoiding international investigations on its botched responses to the pandemic.
One resolution continues the politicization of the virus and exploits Chinese doctor Li Wenliang’s death to slander China. The resolution proposed by infamous anti-China figure Tom Cotton asks to commemorate the life of Li Wenliang and calls “for transparency and cooperation from the government of China and the Communist Party of China.”
Another bill publicly provokes China on the Taiwan question by advocating US’ support to the attempt of the island’s separatists to seat in the WHO by threatening to stop US contributions to the WHO.
The bill by Republican Representative Scott Perry asks “to prohibit all US assessed and voluntary contributions to the WHO until such time as the membership in the WHO of the People’s Republic of China is terminated and the Republic of China (Taiwan) is afforded full rights, privileges, and responsibilities as a Member State in the WHO, and for other purposes.”
Some other bills look absurd and ridiculous, such as “to prohibit the use of federal funds for purchasing dogs and cats from wet markets in China, and for other purposes,” and “to prohibit importation of commercially produced fresh citrus fruit originating from the China.”
Some members of the Congress lack the most basic common sense or even the most basic conscience in their understanding of China-US relations. They want chaos, not stability, Li Haidong noted. The bizarre bills also reflect some lawmakers’ lack of understanding of where their country stands and its own problems, he noted.
Li Haidong said that there are so many domestic problems in the US, such as racial conflicts and the epidemic situation. Instead of actively dealing with domestic affairs, some senators regard the confrontation with China as an important matter.