By Koo Lap

Whether internally or externally, Trump has always emphasized “America First”; and whether it is a big thing or a small thing, no one dares to contradict him; arrogant and pompous, the ultimate personification of “the ugly American”. However, after his son-in-law has been diligently cultivating the Middle East situation as a middleman, a breakthrough has been made: Israel has established diplomatic relations with the UAE and Bahrain, and its relations with Saudi Arabia have also been easing up by the day. It is hoped that these would lead to the dismantling of the fuse to the gunpowder storage that could threaten world peace. This breakthrough made “the ugly American” the true peace ambassador. Whether he successfully brings home the desired Nobel Peace Prize to be announced next month, the establishment of a peaceful situation in the Middle East is beneficial to Trump in the general elections in November. However, this is just the beginning.

At the same time, under the witness of Secretary of State Pompeo, the Afghan government finally convened a meeting with the Taliban to try to resolve the seemingly endless civil war. Prior to this, the United States has negotiated with the Taliban for the expected withdrawal of troops. If the new negotiations can bring about peace, the longest U.S. war abroad will also be ending soon. If so, this is indeed another one for Trump, this “ugly American”, to brag about.

This achievement was thanks to strategic deployments. As soon as Trump entered the White House, he focused his energy on Iran. First, he withdrew the United States from Obama’s agreement with Iran to restrict the development of nuclear weapons, and then escalated comprehensive financial sanctions that even got Huawei’s precious daughter Meng Wanzhou involved into the mess. This all boils down to that the Trump government determined Iran to be the root cause of the Middle East turmoil. All issues, be it the threats faced by Israel, the unrest in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and even Yemen, could be traced back to Iran. To tackle the chaos from the root, Iran is to be subdued, or at least its ability to cause trouble weakened so to relieve the threats to peace in the Middle East.

For a move against Iran, the trump card is the Shale Revolution that made the United States the largest oil-producing country that is not only energy-independent, but even capable of exporting oil and natural gas; therefore, it no longer has to fear the oil-producing countries like in the 1970s when it could be economically-blackmailed by the restrictions in oil exports. In fact, the Shale Revolution has caused oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and even Venezuela to plunge into economic difficulties, and their ability to expand by force was greatly inhibited. “The ugly American” is able to make peace thanks to economic strengths.

Speaking of the same economic strengths, when they fall into the hands of a violent dictatorship, the story is very different. In 2009, Xi Jinping visited Mexico as the crowned prince, the expected next president. At the conclusion of the trip, he made his “Three Nots” Declaration: “There are some well-fed foreigners who have nothing better to do than point fingers at our affairs. China does not, first, export revolution; second, export poverty and hunger; third, cause troubles for you.”

At the time, with the opportunity of joining the WTO, China had entered the European and American markets for eight years. It had already transformed itself into the world’s factory and replaced Japan as the second-largest economy the following year. Xi Jinping reprimanded foreigners for being “well-fed with nothing better to do”, an arrogance that came with wealth, a despotic domineering stance that is totally bringing to life “the ugly Chinaman” as written by Bo Yang.

Since taking the throne in 2012, Xi Dada’s confidence in the “Three Nots” declaration only got increasingly unabated. Although the Wuhan virus has trapped the global economy in an unprecedented plight, the Hong Kong national security law, and the human rights situation in Xinjiang and Tibet have attracted worldwide condemnation, the escalation of militarization in the South China Sea, the increased tension in the Taiwan Strait and even the Sino-Indian border conflicts have triggered security panic in the surrounding regions, not to mention the repeated violation of international trade agreements causing a complete loss of integrity…Xi Jinping is still refuting every accusation made by European Union leaders in these regards, stressing that the anti-epidemic cooperation requires positive energy to be injected into the China-E.U. cooperation, and human rights guarantee has never been better; lecturing the European Union to meddle less. Such an attitude only demonstrated the full “ugly Chinaman” with the inferior nature of “blaming others for one’s own mistakes.”

Through the creation of peace in the Middle East, “the ugly American” is expected to withdraw from a war that has been ongoing for over two decades, and return to Asia to greet this “ugly Chinaman” with the same strategy it has deployed against Iran. What is rare is that this carefully arranged strategic deployment has clearly obtained consensus among English-speaking countries and the European Union such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as Japan, India, and even ASEAN countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore. “Global besiegement of China” is not intended to restrict the rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation, but it is just that the “ugly Chinaman” has insulted the world so much, trampling on the dignity of human rights, and depriving the people of freedom, that universal values simply can no longer tolerate.

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