Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng Photo: guancha.cn

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Le Yucheng, said in a recent interview that taking down China is never the cure for US' problems, as some people in the US are trying every means to blame China for their domestic problems. Le also stressed that the biggest challenge for the US is always itself and the Chinese people never yield to coercion.

As this year marks the 50th anniversary of Henry Kissinger's secret visit to China, Le shared his expectations on the bilateral relations in an interview on the "China Forum" column published by guancha.com on Friday. Le believes the US' hegemony is in decline and warned against attempts to ruin China-US relations which would be the biggest political error. He also slammed some Western countries led by the US for lacking the right to talk about democracy and human rights with China based on their own deplorable record.

Le pointed out that facts have proved that through 50 years of engagement and cooperation, China and the US have accomplished many great things and solved many hard problems for the world. 

However, some in the US are trying to shift the blame onto China for their domestic problems. In fact, the biggest challenge for a superpower like the US always comes from within, not from without. Taking down China is never the cure for US problems. China has no intention to compete with the US. What we want is to improve and surpass ourselves. We do not have a strategy for hegemony. We only have a strategy for development. Our goal is to deliver a good life for our people and meet their aspiration for a better life, Le said. 

"To engage China 'from a position of strength' is in essence an example of hegemonic mindset and Cold War mentality. It is nothing more than flexing muscles and wielding big sticks to intimidate us. The Chinese people never yield to coercion," Le said. "When China was underdeveloped and only had 'millet plus rifles', we were afraid of no one. Today there is no reason for us to be afraid of the so-called position of strength." 

Now, quite a lot of other people in the US and Europe are talking about decline of the US. But the country repeatedly says that it is still the global leader and that it is not declining.

Le said he believed the US is in decline not in real strength, but in hegemonic power. 

"In terms of real strength, the US is still the most powerful major country in the world, and will be insurmountable for a long time to come. But no matter how powerful a country is, hegemony will lead the country to decline as it finds no support in the world. Today, if any country still wishes to hold on to its hegemonic power to rule the world and arbitrarily interfere in other countries' internal affairs, it is doomed to fail," Le said. 

About "betting against America," Le said succeeding or not hinges not on how you bet, but on what you do. Italy beat Spain in the UEFA Euro 2020 the other day because of how they played, not how anyone bet. China does not base its policies on a bet against America. Whether the US wins or loses is not up to China. Likewise, China's march forward is not to be stopped by any force.

Noting some people with vision and insight in the US have recently started to reflect upon and criticize the administration's misguided China policy, Le warned that allowing China-US relations to go downhill or derail and the world's two major countries to engage in confrontation and conflict is actually politically incorrect in every sense of the term.

Le also pointed out that some blocs or small groups formed by the US at best rules of 10 percent of world population, and they by no means represent the international community. some Western countries led by the US have also no right to talk democracy and human rights with China because of their own deplorable human rights record.

Commenting on the US' move to take the lead again to play up the so-called "Wuhan lab leak" on COVID-19 origin-tracing, Le said if the US truly cares about truth and transparency, it should accept international investigation to get to the bottom of the source of the pandemic in the US, reasons behind its failed COVID response, and problems in its own bio-labs. 

"It should not act like a flashlight - trying to put just others, not itself, under the light," Le said.