US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Photo: VCG

Some American political elites' thoughts perfectly explain the word "wishful thinking." They generally have such an illusion: China should cooperate with the US on certain issues, because this is not only for the overall picture of China-US relations, but more importantly, Washington can benefit from it. As for the US' provocation against China on some sensitive topics, China should accept it because this is also in line with the US' geopolitical interests.

The latest examples happened on Wednesday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday talked tough again on the Taiwan question. He said that if the Chinese mainland were to use force to "disrupt the status quo" over the island of Taiwan, then the US and its allies would be prepared to "take action." On the same day, China and the US reached their Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s.

The US has been indulging in fantasy. With its arrogant China policy of "competition, cooperation and confrontation," Washington has divided China-US relations into various specific topics and classified them based on US interests. Obviously, climate action is in the basket of "cooperation" and the Taiwan question has been thrown into the basket of "confrontation." More ridiculously, the US expects China to accept it entirely.

It is worthy of recognition that China and the US reached a joint declaration on enhancing climate action. However, it must be pointed out that the US has tried to use the climate issue to restrict China's development rights, as well as Chinese people's livelihood. In this way, Washington tries to benefit from it and maintain its hegemony. Essentially, in areas such as climate cooperation, the US wants to be the bigger winner instead of reaching a reciprocal situation together with China.

On the Taiwan question, the US has never stopped making its destructive statements. Be it Blinken's above-mentioned words or US President Joe Biden's "slip of the tongue" by saying the US would come to Taiwan's defense if the island faces a Chinese mainland "incursion," the US' purpose is to create tensions across the Taiwan Straits to seek military and other strategic benefits.

"The US wants to take every harmful action while enjoying all the benefits. This is an unhealthy way of thinking in international relations. The US hopes to reach such a result - China will contribute to the US' interests on issues such as climate change, and for other issues that the two countries cannot cooperate on, Washington will undermine Beijing's interests," Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

In fact, the policy of "America First" has never changed fundamentally in the US. Washington is still trying to make international affairs develop on the basis of American interests. Such an illusion is especially serious when it comes to China-US relations. "We should be vigilant that the zero-sum thinking and Cold War mentality are still haunting in the US policy toward China. We should not expect that Washington will make a change, because it has always wanted to benefit from its provocation against Beijing," Li said.

But the era when Washington dominates the world has long passed. The US cannot manipulate other countries at its will, nor will China let the US lead bilateral relations according to its one-sided expectations. If Washington believes that Beijing will give up its core interests, then it has fallen into serious strategic misjudgment. China welcomes sincere and win-win cooperation with the US, but if Washington wants to play the trick of "carrot and stick," it would be much too naïve.