Petty tricks cannot hurt China

US President Barack Obama leaves a meeting to launch the 'Mission Innovation: Accelerating the Clean Energy Revolution' at the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, November 30, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

On Friday, the US Senate reportedly approved a bill to rename the square in front of China's embassy as "Liu Xiaobo Square". The White House spokesperson is quoted as saying some senior political advisors suggested US President Barack Obama veto the bill. Liu is a criminal that is being used as a tool by some in the West, China has no need to overreact, says an editorial in the Global Times Chinese edition:

Obviously, by trying to rename the square after a criminal that violated China's security, the US politicians hope to humiliate China. They are playing such tricks to smear mud on China.

The United States can neither resort to military confrontation nor economic sanctions, so it has to resort to such silly tricks to try and belittle China.

As it rises, China will meet more ploys like this one. There is no need for China to be too sensitive to them. Instead, they should help China gain more confidence and tolerance.

It should be noted that whatever US senators do, they can't change the fact that Liu is a criminal who jeopardized China's national security, and was legally sentenced to imprisonment by a Chinese court. His "popularity" in the West makes him a tool that some Western politicians try to use to point fingers at China.

Some US politicians have actually formed an alliance with the "Chinese dissidents" they support. They think they can fool the Chinese public, but they forget we live in the Internet Age and everybody knows what they are trying to do.

China needs to be more tolerant and confident in the face of such petty tricks. We are making progress in market reform and society building. We have passed several challenges, which proves our difference from the former Soviet Union, namely we are energetic and robust.

It is time for certain US politicians to change their mentality. We now live in a multipolar world and they need to learn to respect different political systems and cultures.