US GOP Presidential Сandidate Offers to Treat China With the Gloves Off

© AFP 2023 / NICHOLAS KAMM US conservative Ben Carson addresses the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington,DC on February 26, 2015
US conservative Ben Carson addresses the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington,DC on February 26, 2015 - Sputnik International
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US Republican presidential candidate Ben S. Carson is playing the "Chinese aggression" card, claiming that Beijing is dreaming to overtake the US as the global hegemon and US leadership should deal with the Chinese with the gloves off, the politician insists.

US Republican presidential candidate Ben S. Carson is beating the war drum over Beijing's unwillingness to bow before Washington: the politician claims that the US should toughen up with China, holding it "accountable" when it "misbehaves" and coercing it into submission.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, walk on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington - Sputnik International
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"Six and a half years into the Obama presidency, Americans rightfully feel enormous angst about the rise of China. Having rocketed to the status of the world's largest economy by purchasing power parity (America remains the largest by absolute size), China is actively challenging the US-led order in Asia," the Republican presidential candidate wrote in his article for the National Interest.

Carson groundlessly accused China of intimidating its neighbors, launching cyber-attacks against US government entities, stealing American intellectual property, and "creating havoc in world stock indices with its ham-handed financial interventions."

Needless to say, the Republican presidential candidate did not bother to present any credible evidence to confirm these controversial allegations.

Carson lambasted Obama's "ineffective" and "inconsistent" foreign policies toward China, stressing that Beijing "remains undeterred."

In his turn, the presidential candidate offered what he called "real solutions" and "better policies."

Remarkably, "better policies" include the US buildup in the Asia Pacific region, re-establishment of the American military presence in the Philippines, the deployment of US Marines to Australia and military support to Japan.

Furthermore, Carson called for increasing military cooperation with America's allies and China's neighbors, such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the Philippines and Vietnam.

On the other hand, the presidential candidate proposed to "challenge China's outlandish territorial claims":

"This includes sailing or flying by China's artificial islands in the South China Sea with US military aircraft or vessels to make clear that America does not recognize the islands' legitimacy under international law," Carson elaborated.

The question remains open whether such policies could be considered "real solutions" aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region. The measures proposed by Carson threaten to turn the Asia Pacific into a hornet's nest.

U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping drink a toast at a lunch banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. - Sputnik International
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Claiming that China is responsible for repeated hacking attacks against US government entities, Carson called for imposing harsh economic penalties against Chinese firms involved in cyber-attacks and "retaliation" against Beijing for purported "cyber espionage."

The Republican presidential candidate is not the only American policymaker who has used the "China aggression" card. US politicians and thought leaders openly demonstrate unwillingness to treat Beijing as an equal partner. Some of them even go so far as to claim that Washington should deal with Beijing from a position of strength, not parity.

Blaming Beijing for "intimidating" its neighbors, US policymakers remain silent about Washington's own coercive foreign policy toward both its potential rivals and longstanding allies.

Experts point out that Sino-American relations have deteriorated sharply, wondering why Washington and the American hawkish political elite are teasing the Dragon.

By humiliating China, Washington is cutting its own throat, US academic James Petras noted in one of his latest articles, pointing to the fact that the two countries are economically interconnected and a sanctions policy against Beijing would inevitably backfire at Washington.

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