25 February 2017

News Story: Washington needs to discard its lingering misconceptions about China

by Xinhua writer Liu Chang

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- For many decades, Washington seems to have been preoccupied with an endless series of myths about China.

These jaw-dropping misconceptions suggest that China has manipulated its currency for trade gains, stolen a huge number of jobs from the United States, and seeks to upend the current world order. In a recent interview with Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned two of these many widespread theories.

He said China can fix the nuclear problem in the Korean Peninsula "very quickly," and called China a "grand champion" of currency manipulation. It is not surprising that the new U.S. leader is uttering such words as he used to make similar statements frequently in the past.

To America's disappointment, the truth on the Korean nuclear issue is that China has no magic wand to single-handedly right what's wrong on the peninsula. Its influence over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a sovereign country, has been exaggerated.

Like it or not, the Trump administration may need to accept the fact that preventing the area from engaging in a potential nuclear arms race and bringing lasting stability requires a collective effort and a reorientation of a decades-old coercive and non-communicative policy that has been passed down from one administration to the next.

Read the full story at Xinhua