China should work to tear down US-built ‘Western Wall’: Global Times editorial

 OPINION / EDITORIAL

China should work to tear down US-built ‘Western Wall’: Global Times editorial

By Global Times

Published: Aug 03, 2021 11:48 PM

   

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The US and its major allies continue to stoke controversy in areas such as human rights. Recently, Washington attempted to force the World Health Organization to conduct a politics-driven virus origins probe as a focus to attack China, and the main supporters of this action are still its allies. The circle the US has built is centered around countries including the US, Europe, Australia, and Japan. They are often referred to as "the West." But lately, the Chinese have been using a new term: "The US and the West."

The total population of the US and the West is a little over 1 billion, or about one-eighth of the whole human population. But these countries play a leading role in world affairs. Their GDP accounts for more than half of global GDP. Their discourse power is overwhelmingly dominant. Thus, they have a monopoly on how controversial issues are interpreted and defined.

The US is desperate to turn its conflict with China into a collision between the West and China, and the Biden administration in particular has done everything possible to achieve this goal. China should try to distinguish the China-US conflict from friction between China and the West. It should prove to the world that these things are strategically different. In this way, China can make it more difficult for the US to turn the whole Western camp against China.

It is worth mentioning that the US has some natural advantages in pulling the Western camp to pressure China. First, the West is a de facto alliance based on ideology and values. In addition, in an era of great global changes, these countries have a certain sense of common interests that overrides their differences. The US is taking advantage of these conditions. It is trying to use the ideological conflict as a grip to make its conflict with China a struggle between China and the West. This has fooled many Westerners.