China is right to assert global rules amid US moves

The trip to Taiwan by United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a breach of international relations, and in the greater scheme of things, it should be seen as diplomacy no less than America's grandstanding amid a world fraught with tensions.

Recently, the United States has increasingly undermined global rules to maintain its competitive advantage over other countries, especially those in Asia and Africa, as they catch up in economic and military terms. Entrusted with monetary power, the US abused its global dominance to wage trade wars and sanction countries in which different governance systems operate.

Besieged by petty politicking and ideological struggles, Americans experienced fewer human rights improvements (food, social services, public infrastructure) than they would have otherwise.

A dreary mood of grudge permeates across the US.

Laying waste to a common adversary who they believe is threatening their hegemony would seem to make sense. China becomes the latest victim, not least because the vast improvement in GDP and the living conditions of its people has evoked what is seen as a threat to US global hegemony.

The politicians in Washington are equally anxious about the technological near parity of China, a prospect that was unimaginable decades ago when then-US president Richard Nixon reached out to China for closer ties. Nationalist tail winds now fault globalization for growth disparities between the two giant countries. They bellow stridently that China has benefited at their expense.

Pelosi's Taiwan trip was part of the geopolitical game to undermine China.

Some US politicians now narrate the Taiwan question to their avail. The China hawks even openly call Taiwan a "country", ignoring the one-China principle, the foundation of Sino-US relations. The principle has been affirmed by all 181 countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China, including the US.

In the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, the US acknowledged China's territorial sovereignty over Taiwan. In fact, the one-China principle is recognized by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. Historians know that Taiwan has been an indisputable territory of China since ancient times. Taiwan's residents are descendants of people who moved there from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, or descendants of the Kuomintang-led army that lost the civil war in 1949 and fled to the island across the Taiwan Straits.

By extension, all these mean that Taiwan is not entitled to enjoy country-level status conferred by any nation.

The US also broke international rules by coordinating military maneuvers with the United Kingdom and Australia across the Taiwan Straits, which should not have happened－just as China would never instigate military action jointly with Brazil and Argentina across the Pacific Ocean bestriding Hawaii and the US mainland.

Were Pelosi's visit to trigger a military conflict, the fault would lie in Washington. But China stood calm, because leaders in Beijing cherish pragmatism above all else－human lives and human rights take precedence above all else unless during times of imminent threat. Besides, Taiwan residents are also Chinese.

Some Western politicians argue that Taiwan is an island that runs a political system closer to theirs than the Chinese mainland's, and therefore should be granted the same status as a country. Although their narrative runs hollow against mainstream propaganda of an inclusive society, many Westerners buy into it.

Pelosi's visit to Taiwan was a breach of the fundamental principles of international relations as well as Washington's commitment to upholding the one-China principle. It seems that dismantling agreements, sanctioning countries at whim and stirring up mistrust in regions abroad have become part of US diplomacy.

A few of its allies vociferously defended Washington to legitimize its transgressions, as they stand to profit from twisted rules that safeguard their parochial interests. The remainder of the world's nearly 200 countries need not back down in the face of their strong-arming.

To avert a global crisis, the oppressed must bind together and make a stand. China is right to assert global rules on a global stage.

The author is a member of the New People's Party in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.