PLA General：U.S engaging in gunboat
diplomacy
The United States will dispatch the aircraft carrier USS George
Washington to the waters west of South Korea (the Yellow Sea) to
participate in a series of U.S.-South Korean joint military drills,
a spokesperson for the United States Department of Defense recently
announced during a press conference. This is a 180-degree turn from
the statements made by an official from the Pentagon in
mid-July.
The
Chinese government has reiterated that it firmly opposes the
activities of foreign naval ships in the Yellow Sea and other
offshore areas of China that affect China's security interests and
urged relevant sides to pay serious attention to China's concerns
and stance. However, the United States has insisted on sending
aircraft carriers to the Yellow Sea to provoke China. What
information has this transmitted? At least it shows that the
foreign policy of the United States is still showing three features
that have long been part of its global
strategy.
The
first is hegemony, under which the United States claims, "Since I
am the dominant player in the world, I can go anywhere I want and
others have no rights to interfere." The philosophical foundation
of the American hegemonic mindset is the deep-rooted "manifest
destiny" theory held by some Americans.
According
to the theory, the American Nation is the most outstanding nation
in the world. Its leadership in the world, which is bestowed by
God, is undeniable. Therefore, Americans have the responsibility to
handle world affairs and will appear wherever problems take place.
Nevertheless, the results are usually the opposite – things become
worse with the involvement of the United
States.
The
reason behind this is that they are convinced that the social
system of the United States is the most advanced in the world.
Therefore, they strive to sell their "democratic values" across the
world, which sometimes means resorting to military action. They
believe that the American nation is the most excellent, so they
must "lead the world" and other nations have no choice but to
follow them.
The
United States will exercise its military power to punish the
nations that do not follow its will. In their eyes, the security of
other countries and nations is always put in the second position
and even considered to be insignificant. They do not need to pay
attention to security concerns raised by any other
country.
The
second is gunboat diplomacy. It can be summed up by the position
that, "If you do not obey me, I will flex my muscles first. Then,
if you do not behave better, I will teach you a lesson with my
fists." The best example of U.S. gunboat diplomacy is the Naval
Operations Concept 2010 approved by the U.S. president in May this
year, which vividly described U.S. "maritime interests." According
to the concept 2010, the U.S. naval forces will develop six core
competencies: forward presence, deterrence, maritime security, sea
control, power projection and humanitarian
assistance.
What
high-sounding language! First, the so-called forward presence means
that the United States can send its gunboats to every corner of the
world, tyrannize the weak and extend its security boundaries to
others’ doorsteps. This way, the United States can even claim the
Yellow Sea and the South China Sea is covered within its security
boundary.
Second,
the so-called deterrence is no different from bully tactics, namely
that "if you do not obey me, I will punch you." Third, the
so-called maritime security is to ensure the inviolability of U.S.
gunboats. The United States only cares about its own safety, and it
should not be expected to ever care about others' safety. Fourth,
the so-called sea control applies the logic of "whoever controls
critical sea-lanes controls the seas, and whoever controls the seas
controls the world."
Fifth,
the so-called power projection is obviously for war rather than
peace. Sixth, the so-called humanitarian assistance is only for the
Americans and U.S. allies, while others only receive brutal and
rough treatment from the United States. This U.S. behavioral style
shows that it is still holding on to the Cold War mentality and
still implementing gunboat diplomacy, the philosophical foundation
of which is the law of jungle, namely bullying the
weak.
Ironically,
the United States, which has a blind belief in its military force
and "speaks" only through its gunboats, is at once embarrassingly
trapped in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The
third feature of U.S. foreign policy is unilateralism, namely, "No
matter how many people it involves, I am superior to all others,
and I can do whatever I like. Everything must bend to American
interests and will." The philosophical foundation of American
unilateralism is based on the zero-sum game and its basic principle
is: what I obtain must be what others lose and vice versa, so what
others obtain must be what I lose.
Therefore,
the United States is never willing to communicate and consult with
other countries, let alone think from others' point of views. Since
Obama came into power, he has claimed to have broken clearly with
former President Bush's unilateralist policies and pursued "smart
power" diplomacy.
However,
judging from the United States and South Korea's insistence on
holding joint military drills around the waters of the Korean
Peninsula, we see neither multilateral security cooperation nor the
display of smart power. What we see is only unilateral
confrontation and showing off of hard power.
The
Chinese are peace-loving people, and China is now taking a peaceful
development road different from when the imperialist powers rose.
We do not want to be against any country, but we are not fearful if
other countries ignore our solemn positions and core interests. A
country must have the dignity and its army must have deterrence
power.
China
adheres to the principle "We will not attack unless we are
attacked, and we must retaliate only if we are attacked," which is
definitely not a joke to the Chinese people and the army. Doesn’t
the United States proclaim itself to be the most democratic
country? Then, they should know in the 21st century, they ought to
learn to respect others and listen to the public opinions of other
countries, using wisdom but not gunboats to solve
problems.
By
Major General Luo Yuan, deputy secretary general of the Society of
China Military Sciences, translated by People's Daily
Online
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90780/91343/7103900.html