Like the movie named, “The China Syndrome” implies,
America and China are at the opposite sides of the planet. It means that they
trade places once every 12 hours, making it so that when it is dawn in one
place, it is dusk in the other, and vice-versa.
This is not something new; it has been in the making
since the phenomenon of the continental drift split the Americas from the
Pangaea super continent billions of years ago, and started moving them into the
position where they are today.
But what is new is that speaking in geopolitical
terms, history has worked itself in such a way that America and China find
themselves at opposite sides of the politico-economic spectrum where they are
solidifying their respective positions, and gradually increasing their
antagonism toward each other.
Some people in America believe that it is impossible
for two powers the size of China and America to coexist, therefore, the two
will remain antagonistic, and will compete ferociously till one will vanquish
the other economically or militarily or both. One of the cheerleaders promoting
the theory that the world is made of two camps, one containing good guys and
one containing bad guys is Clifford D. May. He places America and her friends
in the good camp, and places China and her friends in the bad camp.
Clifford May who is founder and president of the
comical outfit calling itself Foundation for Defense of Democracies expresses
all of that (and more) in an article he wrote under the title: “Communist
China's imperialist dreams of dividing the world,” and the subtitle: “Belt and
Road Initiative is about more than infrastructure.” The article was published
on May 26, 2020 in The Washington Times.
To prove that China is already an empire, Clifford May
relies on a report that was prepared by one of his colleagues. In it, she said
a few disparaging things about China's activities around the world––both close
to home and far away from it. But if you look at the list of the things in the
report that Clifford May has chosen to highlight, and if you assume that all of
them are true –– which they are not –– the only way you'll react is to exclaim:
Is that all there is to it!
In fact, this story is so trivial, it sounds like a
friend is warning you to watch your back because he knows for certain that your
neighbor is a dangerous thief, and that he may be capable of committing worse
crimes than steal. Astonished, you ask for proof and your friend shows you a
picture of the neighbor siphoning gasoline from one of his cars and pouring it
into his other car. You respond to your so-called friend with a scornful
silence and walk back into your house.
So, here are the bad things that Clifford May says
China has done close to home, and you're supposed to take seriously:
“China is already an empire. Tibet and Xinjiang are
captive nations within it. Britain turned over the Hong Kong colony to the
Chinese in exchange for the promise that for a half-century it would maintain
substantial independence. That promise was broken when Beijing imposed a law
effectively criminalizing dissent. China's rulers also are threatening Taiwan”.
Response: Like Basque in Spain, Alsace in France,
Quebec in Canada and Kashmir in both India and Pakistan, the Tibet and Xinjiang
are currently autonomous regions that––for centuries––have alternated being a
part of China or the Indian Subcontinent. They are now parts of China, not
nations occupied by it.
If the Palestinian West Bank were enjoying a similar
status, Jews of the Clifford May kind, indoctrinated as they are in Jewish
logic, would insist that the name Israel never be uttered in vain without
preceding it with an appropriate designation, such as: “The fastidiously humane
nation and most glorious of all, Israel.” And the world will be sickened more
than it is now hearing the Jews describe Israel like it can never be.
And here are the bad things that Clifford May says
China has done away from home, and you're supposed to take seriously:
“Beijing's imperial dreams extend beyond its
neighborhood. It launched the Belt and Road initiative. In the emerging
economies, the Chinese built roads, rail lines, airports, seaports, dams power
plants and communications networks cheaply and efficiently. These are often
white elephants that benefit the companies that build them and politicians that
allow them. In Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Kenya, such projects met with
difficulties”.
As to the developed economies, Clifford May says that
China is there too. It is offering capital, expertise and doing BRI work in
Italy, France, Germany and the rest of Europe.
Well my friend, these being the powers that know a
thing or two about colonialism––having been colonial masters in the past––you
wonder why they offer themselves to being colonized by China. Are they
suicidal? Or do they know something that Clifford May does not?
Of course, it could be that Clifford May is lying to
his American readers (eminent and pedestrian alike) who are more often than
not, the ones to be misinformed by his deceptive propaganda, and driven to
formulate policies for the country that draw the curtain on America's day under
the sun.