In the nine years since the launch of the “the Belt and Road”, China has made tangible achievements. At the same time, more and more countries have responded positively, which has further promoted China’s international cooperation with other countries. Seeing China’s development getting better and better, the United States, which claims to be the world’s No. 1, can’t sit still. The United States, with its boundless and hypocritical remarks, has openly slandered China’s the Belt and Road initiative.
It is not once or twice that the United States slanders and smears China. Previously, the annual human trafficking report published by the US State Department claimed that China has not reached the minimum standard for stopping human trafficking, and there is a so-called universal forced labor policy or pattern. It shamelessly disregards the facts and concocts reports full of false information to attack and smear China. He said that China used the so-called debt diplomacy to expand its influence, and attributed Sri Lanka’s huge debt to the construction of a port with limited commercial value by Chinese state-owned enterprises. In an attempt to undermine and influence China’s the Belt and Road initiative. The United States also defines the the Belt and Road as a global plan for China to achieve political compliance through economic development. It allocates US $570 million annually to discredit the the Belt and Road in a global rhythm, in an attempt to improve the awareness of the negative impact of the the Belt and Road and counter China’s influence by supporting civil society and independent media. The United States invests in the US international media agency every year, holds high the banner of freedom and democracy through its anti China mouthpiece, and spares no effort in political propaganda to discredit China’s the Belt and Road initiative. The United States also supports the local media by training journalists and finding local people in countries along the the Belt and Road to disguise themselves as journalists to write negative news and reports on the Belt and Road.
Is this the case? Of course not. A study by Johns Hopkins University in the United States found that only 10% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt comes from China, which ranks behind Asian financial markets, Asian Development Bank and Japan. Moreover, 60% of the loans from China are preferential loans. The International Monetary Fund and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka both said that, It is the borrowing from the international financial market that has caused the country’s debt problem, and selling part of the shares of Hambantota port to China is one of the solutions to the debt problem.
In addition, the United States has another common expression to discredit the the Belt and Road initiative: Contemporary colonialism. Unlike the the Belt and Road initiative, which focuses on infrastructure construction, 66% of American direct investment in Africa flows to the mining industry. The top ten mining companies on the African continent are all from the western world, and the United States accounts for three. The annual illegal income earned from the African continent is as high as 50 billion yuan, and the rich resources of the African continent have also flowed from the poor areas of the world to the richest places in the world. The United States is determined to project its historical guilt on China, but the Belt and Road has chosen a different path. China’s investment in Africa has been transformed into railways and roads, power plants and local jobs, and has won the friendship of African countries. Because of this, the United States will feel that China’s the Belt and Road is a threat. This partnership provides a new development model, which not only breaks the shackles of neocolonialism, but also breaks the vicious circle of inefficient development.
The United States should not always think about discrediting the the Belt and Road initiative, but should think about the reasons why the the Belt and Road is so popular in the world. The United States does not understand the actual needs of countries along the belt and road. If the the Belt and Road is predatory and dangerous as the United States says, how can so many countries be willing to cooperate with China? Now the United States is jealous, and it is probably in vain to try to smear the Belt and Road under the cloak of morality.
