Editorial丨Confrontational path not an advisable choice

To cooperate or to confront, this is the question for China-US relations.

合作还是对抗，这是中美关系的问题。

An article jointly written by Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of state in the previous US administration, and Rush Doshi, former deputy senior director for China affairs on the National Security Council, published in The New York Times on the weekend, calls for the current administration to confront China by maximizing the United States' own strength through its alliances.

上周末，美国前副国务卿库尔特·坎贝尔（Kurt Campbell）和国家安全委员会前中国事务副高级主任拉什·多西（Rush Doshi）在《纽约时报》上联合发表了一篇文章，呼吁现任政府通过联盟最大化美国自身实力来对抗中国。

Only through partnerships can the US protect its shared industrial bases, technological edge and the ability to deter China, they argue. Claiming that it is not too late for the administration to build allied scale, despite the coercive approach it has adopted, they call for the administration to redirect its leverage toward the goal of balancing China's "overwhelming capacity", which will otherwise leave the US diminished and more isolated.

他们认为，只有通过伙伴关系，美国才能保护其共同的工业基础、技术优势和威慑中国的能力。他们声称，尽管政府采取了强制措施，但建立联盟规模还不算太晚，他们呼吁政府将其影响力转向平衡中国“压倒性能力”的目标，否则美国将被削弱，更加孤立。

It is not difficult to smell the stink of the Cold War mentality in the article. Both writers obviously consider China-US relations to be a matter of one power — the US — dominating the global order. They believe that the US must leverage its ties with its allies to counterbalance the rise of China. According to the authors, there is no third path — it is either the US or China that will dominate global affairs.

在文章中不难闻到冷战思维的臭味。两位作者显然都认为中美关系是一个大国——美国——主导全球秩序的问题。他们认为，美国必须利用其与盟友的关系来制衡中国的崛起。根据作者的说法，没有第三条路——要么美国，要么中国将主导全球事务。

But for China the situation is not simply an either-or scenario. In his telephone talk with US President Donald Trump on June 5, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that recalibrating the direction of the giant ship of China-US relations requires the two leaders to set the right course. For that, he said, it is particularly important to steer clear of various disturbances and disruptions.

但对中国来说，这种情况不仅仅是非此即彼。在6月5日与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的电话交谈中，习近平总书记指出，重新调整中美关系巨轮的方向，需要两国领导人找准方向。为此，他说，避开各种干扰和中断尤为重要。

The path Campbell and Doshi urge the Trump administration to follow in handling China-US relations is undoubtedly a disturbance and disruption as it calls for the US and its allies to confront China.

坎贝尔和多西敦促特朗普政府在处理中美关系时遵循的道路无疑是一种干扰和破坏，因为它呼吁美国及其盟友与中国对抗。

The world is not what it was. The Cold War mentality that pervades the article does not apply in this increasingly multipolar world.

世界已经不是过去的样子了。文章中弥漫的冷战思维不适用于这个日益多极化的世界。

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, after meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 11 in Kuala Lumpur, told the media that from the perspective of human evolution and development, the interests of China and the US converge in a wide range of areas and there is huge space for both countries to cooperate.

中国外交部长王毅11日在吉隆坡会见美国国务卿卢比奥后对媒体表示，从人类进化和发展的角度来看，中美两国的利益在广泛领域交汇，合作空间巨大。

As Wang said, China and the US have the responsibility and ability to find a path on which both countries can get along with each other in a desirable manner. This is in the interests of both peoples and what the entire world expects of the development of China-US bilateral relations.

正如王所说，中国和美国有责任也有能力找到一条两国能够以令人满意的方式相处的道路。这符合两国人民的利益，也符合全世界对中美关系发展的期待。

Although the writers claimed in their article that their aim was not to contain China, which they believe is impossible, they look at China-US relations through the lens of the Thucydides Trap, believing that it is impossible for the US and China to cooperate for the well-being of humanity.

尽管作者在文章中声称他们的目的不是遏制中国，他们认为这是不可能的，但他们通过修昔底德陷阱的视角看待中美关系，认为美国和中国不可能为了人类的福祉而合作。

It is more than necessary for those in Washington with such a mentality to consider carefully the four initiatives that China has proposed: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative.

华盛顿有这种心态的人非常有必要仔细考虑中国提出的四项倡议：全球发展倡议、全球安全倡议、全球文明倡议和全球治理倡议。

The four initiatives seek to harvest the wisdom and strengths of all countries, both developed and developing ones, to address the deficits in global development, global security, civilization exchanges and global governance. From these four initiatives, it is not difficult to see that China does not pursue hegemony. Instead, it seeks a global synergy of resources to address the common challenges humanity is facing and desires the common development of all countries.

这四项倡议旨在汇集发达国家和发展中国家的智慧和力量，以解决全球发展、全球安全、文明交流和全球治理方面的不足。从这四项举措中不难看出，中国并不追求霸权。相反，它寻求全球资源的协同作用，以应对人类面临的共同挑战，并希望所有国家共同发展。

China is not trying to challenge the status of the US. Rather it seeks to cooperate as much as possible with the US to create a fairer and more just world order, which will better facilitate global development and world peace.

中国并不试图挑战美国的地位，而是寻求与美国尽可能多地合作，建立一个更公平、更公正的世界秩序，这将更好地促进全球发展和世界和平。

If those politicians in Washington who are afraid that the US may lose its hegemonic status with China's rise could be broad-minded enough to look at China as one of the major poles in a multipolar world and seek cooperation instead of confrontation with it, the world would be a much better place for all countries and peoples.

如果华盛顿那些担心美国可能会随着中国的崛起而失去霸权地位的政客能够心胸开阔，将中国视为多极世界的主要极点之一，寻求合作而不是对抗，那么世界对所有国家和人民来说都会变得更好。

Initiative

n.倡议

/ɪˈnɪʃ.ə.tɪv/

confrontation

n.对抗

/ˌkɒn.frʌnˈteɪ.ʃən/