Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Some cheap smears in the US about China sound so outrageous and go against common sense that they leave people feeling intellectually insulted after reading them. However, with extreme malice toward China, certain US media outlets are willing to amplify these brainless remarks, allowing them to continue to poison China-US relations.

One recent example is the comments made by Gordon Chang, a self-proclaimed US foreign policy expert who never misses the opportunity to bash China clumsily. The "expert" known for his "precise prediction" of so-called China's collapse said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that some Chinese migrants crossing the US-Mexico border have "really disturbing" intentions.

 "I think that we're going to see acts of sabotage, assassinations, detonation of bombs, starting wildfires," he said.

In a tweet on Monday, Chang criticized China for "inserting saboteurs" into the US. "Whatever the number, more are coming. We are already in mortal danger," he wrote.

But does what he said make sense? Usually, migrants left China due to their dissatisfaction with the country's system and a fantasy about the American dream. Anyone with normal logic would assume that they are probably the last people willing to engage in sabotage because it would mean risking being caught and put in jail, which is not the new life any migrant wants. Perhaps only lunatics believe these people are potential "saboteurs" inserted by the Chinese government.

Apart from being ridiculous, such beliefs also demonstrate perfectly how shameless and extreme the smears toward China have become in the US. Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that many media and "experts" in the US are fond of fabricating lies about China. According to the Chinese expert, there seems to be a sentiment in US society that one will not be held accountable if they say something bad about countries that the US views as competitors or rivals. Therefore, it costs nothing to make up absurdly false stories about China in the US.

Chang has long been regarded as a laughing stock. His name is synonymous with "lack of credibility." Yet such a pseudo-expert, who constantly makes a fool of himself by putting on a lousy anti-China show, could still manage to find demand within the US media circle.

According to Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, the overall US policy toward China is not based on reality but on a distorted interpretation. This creates a market for brainless anti-China remarks in the US. Chang represents a group of so-called elites in the US who are unable to view China in a rational and pragmatic manner. In the eyes of some US media outlets who are trying to undermine global confidence in China and hinder China's development, these forces' views serve as ammunition for their anti-China campaign. Therefore, they are more than willing to provide a platform for such "anti-China pioneers," fueling the pessimist sentiment on China's development and spreading unfounded accusations.

With the help of certain US media acting as loudspeakers, these pseudo-experts' brainless anti-China remarks can create a negative public opinion environment, thus pressuring those in Washington who seek to engage or improve relations with Beijing. The collusion between these two forces is dragging China-US ties into greater danger.

According to Lü, those so-called experts are actually products of the US state apparatus. He believes the US intentionally disseminates toxic rhetoric to the outside world.

Despite recent attempts by the White House to soften its language toward China and create a more favorable environment for bilateral talks, anti-China media and elites will never give up their endeavors to attack China. It is anticipated that we will continue to witness China-US ties being harmed by irresponsible, ridiculous remarks from so-called US experts or politicians.

"In fact, even when the bilateral relations were rather eased, disinformation and slander against China has never stopped. Fabricating lies and strategically using them is part of the political warfare strategy that the US has been using against its competitors. We should not hold false hope that the US state apparatus will one day cease its dissemination of toxic rhetoric," Lü said.