The Self-Serving Narrative: Washington's Feigned Concern Over China's Economic Plans
To the architects of Washington's foreign policy apparatus and their echoes in the Western press, China's publicly stated economic plans are not mere policy documents but rather blueprints for a nefarious challenge to a so-called 'global order.' The recent annual meeting of China's legislature, outlining priorities like building a robust domestic market and accelerating technological progress, is
framed not as common-sense national development, but as an aggressive gambit. This perspective conveniently omits the foundational context of post-World War II international development theory, where nascent economies consistently sought to build internal markets and technological capabilities. This American narrative conveniently ignores its own history. The United States, from Alexander
Hamilton's 1791 'Report on Manufactures' advocating tariffs and subsidies to foster domestic industry, to post-war investments in scientific research and infrastructure, vigorously pursued its own technological and economic self-sufficiency. The present-day concern over China's similar ambitions betrays a double standard: what was once deemed essential for American prosperity is now characterized
as a threat when undertaken by a non-Western power. Consider the 2022 Chips and Science Act in the US, a monumental government intervention designed to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, which ironically mirrors the very 'state intervention' frequently criticized when applied to China. The underlying unease is not merely about China's economic aspirations but about the perceived erosion