Todd Bishop
The United States has repeatedly stated that “there is a clash of civilizations with China,” but Singapore’s “Lianhe Zaobao” commentary pointed out that the US is to use the clash of civilizations as a weapon of trade wars, or it can lead to terrible consequences.
The article also pointed out that China’s convening of the Asian Civilization Dialogue is not a joint civilization conflict with other Asian countries.
The first Asian Civilization Dialogue Conference initiated by China was successfully held in Beijing recently. More than 2,000 government officials and representatives of civil society organizations from 47 Asian countries and other countries outside the country participated.
Singapore’s “Lianhe Zaobao” published an editorial yesterday (18th) “Civilization Dialogue is the Right Way”, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting at the Asia-Pacific Conference in 2014 and the Boao Forum for Asia in 2015. The conception has proved that the conference has undergone several years of brewing and preparation. It has nothing to do with the current trade war between China and the United States, and the State Department’s policy planning director, Kiron Skinner, who recently mentioned Huntington’s clash of civilizations.
The clash of civilizations leads people’s thinking to contradictions and conflicts
The article also quoted the interviewed scholars as saying that China emphasized cooperation and exchanges at this dialogue conference, and it is not as predicted by Huntington that it should unite with other Asian countries to launch a clash of civilizations with the West. On the contrary, the article refers to the current trade war between the United States and China. Skinner has suddenly thrown out the clash of civilizations and racial contradictions and questioned that the US is to use the clash of civilizations as a weapon of trade warfare.
However, the commentary said that the United States does not seem to fully consider the terrible consequences that may result from doing so. Because the clash of civilizations leads people’s thinking to contradictions and conflicts, and finally it is likely to fall into a dead end of armed conflict. The contradiction between the United States and the Islamic world and the scourge of war may prove Huntington’s statement.
Finally, the article mentions that civilization differences do exist, but conflicts are not inevitable. It is believed that the pursuit of force or the pursuit of peace lies entirely in the choice of policy makers.
