It's another fine mess Washington has got us into

Editor's note: The US administration appears to have no qualms about the trouble its unilateral policies have caused for the world, and confident with its already outdated outlook on national security, comments Zhong Sheng, a columnist of People's Daily, in an article published on Thursday. Excerpts:

Washington pretends to be blind to the fact that its "maximum pressure" tactics, which ignore international rules and conventions, have only made the global situation more complicated, and turning "national security" into a business has only led to it being caught in its own trap. In history, no country has ever become safer by pitting itself against people everywhere.

If there is anything positive to take from Washington's wheeler-dealer moves, it is that the world is now well aware of the source of global instability and unrest. While the United States hypes up its security being threatened, its interests being encroached upon and its jobs and know-how being stolen, multiple surveys have yielded the same finding that the number of the people deeming the US as a threat to the world has reached a record high.

Economic globalization, boosted by the collective rise of emerging market economies and the collaboration between developed and developing countries, means that economic and trade relations are no longer winner-take-all.

As China stresses, the security of a country rests with its cooperation and openness to others, rather than seclusion and self-imposed isolation.

Now is the time for Washington to adapt its national security outlook that dates back to the pre-globalization era to the changed circumstances of today.

Perched on the top of the global value chain, the US has been, and will continue to be, the largest beneficiary of lasting peace and stability of the world.

No tree of peace can grow on barren land. Only peaceful cooperation can ensure global stability. Washington's Cold War mentality and belief in zero-sum games for so-called absolute security at the expense of the security of other countries are not conducive to world peace and security. The wise know it is better to be kind, while the fool indulges in quarrels and wars.