The China threat – Look who's crying foul

Editor's note: Stephen Ndegwa is a Nairobi-based communication expert, lecturer-scholar at the United States International University-Africa, author and international affairs columnist. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

In a case of the shoe being on the other foot, U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on December 3 finally blurted out one of America's biggest fears. In an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal, Ratcliffe was categorical that "the People's Republic of China poses the greatest threat to America today… since World War II."

Contrary to previous instances where President Donald Trump has used conjecture to sabotage Chinese companies and initiate diplomatic and travel barriers for its arch geopolitical rival, Ratcliffe's article was a direct and daring attack. The spy chief went a step further and escalated the China-U.S. sparring beyond Trump by inciting bipartisan support. Of course, this was a signal to President-elect Joe Biden to take over the fight from where Trump will drop off.

"The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically."

Why is the self-proclaimed superpower running scared?

The accusations have become monotonous, but they cannot be allowed to pass without some perspective. In a regular press conference on December 4 in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying noted this was yet another poor attempt at hyping the China threat. "It is just another mishmash of lies fabricated by relevant departments of the U.S. government that has been going on for quite some time."

Ratcliffe lifted the lid from America's underhand trade and diplomatic onslaught on China during the four years of Trump's presidency. The spy chief's sentiments simply reveal the envy that has pervaded the U.S. administration with the rising fortunes of those it long thought it had subdued.

It is also instructive that Trump and his administration have perfected the art of diverting the world's attention every time China makes a breakthrough. Trump has also made wild allegations to blindside people on the country's major developments like the launch of 5G. This time it has happened to thwart global attention from the recent moon landing.

It is time the U.S. took a hard look in the mirror for a revelation of the source of its real and mounting problems. China ranks lower than the internal crisis and other legitimate reasons threatening to tear America down the middle. And don't blame it on the COVID-19 pandemic either.

In June 2020, George Packer told it as it is. In an article headlined "We are living in a failed state," Packer opined that "the coronavirus didn't break America. It revealed what was already broken." That COVID-19 simply exposed America's underbelly and ravaged a system that was actually deteriorating anyway. "Chronic ills – a corrupt political class, a sclerotic bureaucracy, a heartless economy, a divided and distracted public – had gone untreated for years."

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) speaks during a trade meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (2nd R) in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, D.C., February 22, 2019. /VCG

With such overwhelming domestic challenges, the only way for the administration to keep the truth out of the way is to search for external scapegoats. The insinuation created by branding China as an enemy of the people was aimed at creating the perception that the country is involved in a diabolical scheme and is using subterfuge to rise to global prominence.

On the contrary, the reasons for China's meteoric rise are well documented, even by the Western media. In a Forbes article published in March 2018, Peter Pham contended that there could be a growth hormone added to China's economy, citing three mysteries that underlie China's success: "A gigantic population, production efficiency and intensity and capital, in other words, its total factor productivity."

Anyway, the U.S. should be the last to throw stones or falsely accuse others of hegemony. America's hegemonic footprints are pervasive, represented in many regions' socio-economic and political sectors. When not using force or the threat of it, the superpower has used equally devastating arm-twisting tactics to ensure that countries are aligned to its thinking.

One of the most effective strategies is to sabotage the economies of independent thinking countries to make them totally subservient and dependent on bilateral Western donors and like-minded manipulative multilateral financial lenders.

It is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is a high time Uncle Sam realized there is a new sheriff in town. China is now legitimately rising, albeit as the largest developing country in the world, and no amount of hatred can change that fact.

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