BEIJING, August 15. /TASS/. The United States’ 2019 National Defense Authorization Act is reviving the Cold War paranoia, the China Daily newspaper said, citing Chinese experts.
"Experts said the language used in the act sets a ‘dangerous precedent’ by reviving Cold War paranoia, leading to possible arms races, regional tensions and mistrust in global relations," the daily writes.
"While past US defense reports have portrayed China as a competitor, this is the first time for the US to explicitly state ‘long-term strategic competition with China’ as its ‘principal priority’," China Daily said, citing Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, the Director of the Secretariat's Office of the Xiangshan Forum, an annual security conference in Beijing.
US seeks global dominance
"The US views China and Russia as the primary challengers to its strategic interests, similar to the Cold War era," Zhao Xiaozhuo pointed out, adding that "this time, the report suggests that China has the potential to take the former Soviet Union's place as an all-around competitor to the US."
In the expert’s view, "the US is boosting its military to an unprecedented scale to ensure its global dominance through advanced military hardware, such as in space, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and underwater warfare."
According to Li Haidong, a researcher of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, "the Cold War mentality reflected in the defense act will undoubtedly disrupt global peace and security," the newspaper said. "Although Sino-US relations have not yet entered a new Cold War, the future of bilateral ties will be rocky in the next few years," Li Haidong noted.
Hostility not in China’s interest
At the same time, the Chinese experts stressed that it was not in Beijing’s "interest to return the hostility because China does not seek global hegemony, nor does it want unnecessary conflicts or arms races." "There is simply too much to lose when two nuclear powers butt heads militarily," Zhao Xiaozhuo said, adding, however, that "China also needs to stay cool and firmly protect its core interests, which the new defense law clearly tries to undermine."
On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council criticized the new US National Defense Authorization Act.