Zero-sum game should be abandoned for US-China ties back to right track: China Daily editorial

As predicted, even before the China-EU investment treaty is inked, the conclusion of the negotiations has proved sufficient to irk the China hawks in Washington.

The US administration slapped tariffs on French and German wines and aircraft parts on Wednesday, the same day China and the European Union concluded their investment negotiations.

US Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger said "leaders in both US political parties and across the US government are perplexed and stunned" by the EU agreeing the deal in principle.

And Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro also sought to bow the EU to the administration's will by claiming that China will "not abide by the deal".

Alleging that the investment treaty between the two major economies challenges US geopolitics, even before the specific content of the deal is released, just reveals how deeply ingrained the Cold War mentality is among the China hawks in the US.

The EU agreeing an investment treaty with China — along with its intensive technology and business collaboration and close exchanges with the country on global challenges — should have awakened Navarro, and those with like-minded hostility toward China, to the fact that the EU has the right to think that its interests are better served by maintaining an independent stance.

Since there is no way the world's two largest economies can be decoupled from each other, no matter how much some in Washington might desire it, the attempts by Washington to get other countries to decouple from China only demonstrates how willing it is to sacrifice the interests of other countries on the altar of its strategy to contain China.

Watching what a person does is sometimes more important than listening to what a person says. Foreign demand, including that from the US, has been a robust driver of the Chinese economy, and has made it the only major economy to register positive growth over the past year.

Like it or not, Sino-US relations have come to a new crossroad, the EU and the rest of the world know it well. They also recognize that the outgoing US administration's China policy is doomed to fail, as the most sustainable way for the country to maintain its leadership is through constant self improvement, not obstructing other countries' development.

Now is time for the US to draw lessons from the tremendous losses from its China policies. As State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday, China will not become another US, but the US should become a better US.

Countries should focus on self-improvement rather than drawing ideological lines. China is becoming a better country through constructive and responsible exchanges.