Chinese people also have the right to live well

Editor’s note: “They (Chinese people) lived too well for too long.” That’s what US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Thursday. A WeChat public account Martian Square comments:

It is hard to believe such a quote comes from the US president. Perhaps many of Trump’s predecessors shared that opinion, but he is the first to say it openly.

Former US president Barack Obama once said that if the more than 1 billion Chinese people live a similar lifestyle to their US counterparts, that would be disastrous for the environment. This time, Trump did not see fit to justify his assertion.

It seems that, in the mind of Trump, and others in the US, Chinese people should not live well. To live well is a privilege reserved only for Americans.

People in China have been living better lives since reform and opening-up was launched in 1978. But it was not until the 1990s that China finally got rid of the rationing system. It is only in recent years that the average Chinese resident has been able to afford a car, buy an apartment and travel overseas on holiday.

On the other side of the Pacific, Americans have been living such a lifestyle for decades.

According to the US Declaration of Independence, “the pursuit of happiness” is an “inalienable right”. So why does Trump think Chinese people should not have the right to work hard and live well, just as their US counterparts do.

Now China and the US are in the midst of a trade dispute, that will be increasingly detrimental to both peoples’ pursuit of happiness the longer it carries on.

It seems that Americans are still not used to the Chinese. But the Chinese people’s yearning for a better life and expectation of national rejuvenation will not be denied. China has been suffering for too long!