global times editorial: they may really have run out of material to hype up the "china threat"
2024-09-09
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a farce of "china threat" that is out of control is once again being staged on capitol hill. recently, more than a dozen u.s. congressmen wrote to the biden administration, asking it to solve the "problems caused by the use of agricultural drones made in china." the so-called "problems" they call them are that aerosol spraying drones may collect and analyze crop data that is "invisible to the naked eye" and "obtain vital agricultural production technology." those congressmen who may not even have seen agricultural drones in action in reality have once again refreshed the bottom line of anti-intellectualism of some american politicians with their ridiculous ignorance.
such accusations are not worth refuting. the truth is that china and the united states have a lot of basic cooperation in the field of agricultural science and technology. the signing of the china-us science and technology cooperation agreement is rooted in agricultural science and technology exchanges. karen mankel, professor emeritus at ohio state university, said in an article that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, more than 2,100 american agricultural scientists have visited china, and more than 2,100 chinese scientists have visited american farms and laboratories. "this kind of professional exchange has helped the two countries rise to become global super food production powers." at the 2024 china-us agricultural roundtable forum held in june this year, experts and representatives from both sides also believed that there is still huge potential for cooperation between china and the united states in the development and utilization of advanced agricultural technologies.
agriculture is one of the areas farthest from "great power competition", but in recent years some us congressmen have been trying to dig "security loopholes" in this direction, claiming that china has bought up all the agricultural land in the united states, slandering china for stealing genetically modified seeds from american farmland, and now even drones that spray aerosols are not spared. this actually reflects that those anti-china congressmen have really run out of material to hype up the "china threat theory", which is why they keep making farces like chinese magnets on us fighter jets, cranes installed in us ports, and spraying drones over us farmland have all become "threats".
the truth involved in these farces is not difficult to verify, but the real danger lies in the fact that the "solutions to the problem" that congressmen or anti-china people are committed to promoting all point to the ever-increasing trade barriers with china, or even extreme "decoupling". people have seen that ordinary practitioners in any field that the "china threat theory" touches will often be affected. a recent article in the us "newsweek" titled "american agriculture cannot afford another trade war with china" pointed out that from 2018 to 2020, american farmers suffered devastating losses due to the trade conflict with china, and "the idea of imposing new tariffs on chinese goods is dangerously misleading."
previously, the us proposed to impose a new 25% tariff on port cranes produced in china, which encountered strong opposition from the front line of the industry. professional opinions believe that if the new tariffs are imposed, us ports will either have to buy cranes from china at a higher cost or buy cranes of lower quality than china. it is not difficult to imagine that if agricultural drones are also regarded as a "threat" and xenophobic measures are taken, the result will be the same: choose between high prices and poor quality. american farmers are gradually and steadily increasing the use of spraying drones. in 2023, drones sprayed 3.7 million acres of land in 41 states in the united states, covering 50 crops, most of which were chinese drones. if sanctions are imposed on chinese drones, it is obviously not what american farmers want.
some people in the united states have been "hunting down" chinese drones for some time, but the result is that the demand for chinese-made drones in many industries in the united states remains strong. not only that, recently representatives of more than 6,000 public safety agencies, police and fire departments in the united states that have drone projects wrote to members of the senate armed services committee, opposing the inclusion of the "countering chinese drones act" in the "national defense authorization act", and the relevant restrictions were subsequently lifted. now some congressmen are re-hyping the "threat" of chinese-made agricultural drones, which is nothing more than old wine in a new bottle. even if they change the track, they will still encounter great resistance and backlash.
china and the united states are both major agricultural countries in the world. the international community expects the two countries to further cooperate in addressing climate change, food safety, animal and plant diseases, and there is also a strong call in the united states. as professor karen mankel said, even today, agricultural scientists in the two countries are still eager to cooperate, and there are many things to learn from each other, and "continuous agricultural cooperation is necessary." drones have every possibility to become a win-win project for sino-us agricultural cooperation, and should not become a victim of outdated cold war thinking.
