Islamabad: DG Pakistan House, RanaAtharJaved stated that on April 8, leaders of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced a sweeping 280-Page Bill called the “Strategic Competition Act Of 2021,” A hardline legislative that frames Beijing’s “political, diplomatic, economic, military and ideological power” As a Strategic Competitor to the U.S., Its partners, and the International order at large.
Ms. NaghmanaHashmi, former Ambassador to the Peoples Republic of China, mentioned that the Strategic Competition Act 2021 is a Huge Bill that has become part of the U.S. fast track efforts to counter China. A potentially destabilizing aspect of the bill is that it asserts that foreign policy of China “will put at risk the future peace, prosperity, and freedom of the international community.” Such outlook towards China can undermine peace and stability in Asia, as it denies the possibility of co-existence between the US and China. It is dangerous presume that China is not interested or capable of managing economic and military competition and would pursue destabilizing policies. She remarked.
The process of the final adoption of the bill will be long, protracted, complex but not messy as is normally the case, when such bills come before Congressional Committees. This is because there is virtual unanimity of views and consensus amongst all stakeholders in the United states, whether they belong to the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch or even the media and the think tanks, that is on coming up with new ideas and proposals to counter what has come to be popularly known as ‘the policy of containing China’.
Virtually all Americans are convinced that China represents the only potential threat to American’s global dominance. This is deeply worrying for all Americans ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union and emergence of the United States as the world’s sole superpower. It is America’s political system and the economic framework that has been held up as the panacea for all the ill afflicting the globe, be it the Bush administration or Clinton’s or junior Bush or in later year’s Obama or Trump and now Biden. They all agree on the end goal of containing China. Differences have been on the tactical plain on the methodology but not on the essence of America’s goal, that means on the strategic plain there is unanimity.
All this will only sharpen rivalry between them and a stalemate in bilateral relations with global consequences. Another element of the bill is that it highly exaggerates the threat posed by China’s nuclear arsenal with the ultimate aim, in my view of questioning the sufficiency and the adequacy of arms control measures and justify new spending on US nuclear weapons.
As regards negotiations on outer space the bill rejects all Chinese proposals and makes it difficult for the administration to engage in meaningful talks with the Chinese. It is not the Bill itself that one should worry about but the thinking, the views that are being espoused by important influential and well known legislators. This reflects not only their views but a view that is gaining great credence and credibility within the United States and that is what we should be worrying about. In my view US containment strategy will backfire in the long run but it will create lot of rumpus in near the future including starting a new type of cold war.
Mr. Chen Wei, reiterated that the Strategic Competition Act 2021 is an important and very relevant subject of Today. Pakistan and China have a History of very strong relations. – PR
