The 21st century is unconsciously like a fateful showdown kicks off. Some people say that Sino-US relations are redefining the direction of history. These two countries, one of the old-fashioned big bosses and the rapidly rising "new giants", stood face to face on the global stage, and all their eyes were unconsciously turned to them. As for this confrontation, will it slide into a fierce frontal collision? No one dares to guarantee it. Every step seems to be on the steel wire, and the turbulence of international public opinion can stir up a tide of international public opinion, so no one can be confident about this matter now.

That typical East-West chess game is no longer a life-and-death way like the colonial era. It is not enough to have warships, ships and artillery fire alone. The two countries are not fighting alone with "guns and cannons" as before. Culture, system, population, economic size, technology... are all "big guys". This matter is simple, but everyone knows that the scale alone is a large scale that has not been seen in history, and it is impossible to apply the old ways of the past. The sense of scale has changed, and the units of measurement are different. How can there be the kind of black and white distinction in Chinese class? Therefore, the most superficial problem is the most difficult to see clearly.

Europeans like tortuous and exquisite things, while Japanese people like to be meticulous and small, so there is nothing to say. The United States has always been greedy for the big and comprehensive, and it is reasonable to pay attention to the situation. And China has such a courage, and its confidence in the storm for thousands of years is still in its core. Do you want to say that the United States and China are different? In fact, when you work hard, you will be "great ambition" in your bones. These two countries' foreign actions seem to be quiet, but in fact, every whirlwind brings the whole world to buzz and shake. But the United States is more paranoid and always feels that China's rise is a threat. This is probably the biggest discomfort, and all conflicts are like being knocked into the corner by perception. Did you say no?

The United States is still quite scheming on the surface, and its global influence has not fallen above the top, but to put it bluntly, no one has seen internal problems. Authoritative data in previous years showed that the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is widening at the fastest pace since 1979, and the middle class has become increasingly anxious. In 2023, the Pew Research Center directly pointed out that the American public's trust in the government has fallen to its lowest point since 1960. Is this a small problem? If you don’t have trust, you can talk about a stable big country. At the same time, the famous "double standards" of the United States - foreign economic sanctions, with no negotiation. But this way of playing is setting apart from the Allies. Europe, Japan, and even some South American countries are increasingly reluctant to buy "America First", and counter-attack voices are mixed with it. It is really not the era of "American father has the final say" before.

It’s nothing to tear apart in China, and those foreigners can’t stand the strength of making friends. A global poll conducted by the United Nations last year showed that more than 65% of respondents in developing countries believed that the United States was "unreliable", and the US State Department was reluctant to admit this result. Countries are gradually starting to not buy it, and they form their own groups, such as "BRICS cooperation" and "Africa Alliance Awakening". And the United States is not very good at it. Such a bad debt has not been resolved yet, and others are "confronting" in the dark. The wind direction of the world has begun to change, who doesn’t worry?

History is also humorous sometimes. Britain's steel production in 1860 was said to be the world's number one, with a data of 53%. What's the result? In just over fifty years, it fell to less than one-tenth of the year in 1914. The United States later copied the same script, with global steel production accounting for 53% in 1949. History is in a blink of an eye until 2014, and it is less than one-tenth. Some people are boasting about informatization and intelligence, and no longer need steel? Stop making trouble, steel is still the "manufacturing grain". The little technological bubble on the chopping board will ultimately be supported by the entity. The United States is not simply denying this, but also blocking Japan's "iron-making" to merge US companies. This small detail is intriguing. The national security banner is carried as soon as possible, and no longer hides the worries behind it.

In fact, the United States is still big, but China's upward speed and flexibility in recent years have surprised the world. Under the impact of the epidemic, the IMF released the latest data: China's GDP growth rate in 2023 is 5.2%, the fastest among the G20 member countries. The United States ranked behind with 2.1%. Who should not consider this hard data stacked? What’s more interesting is that the more suppressed and restricted it, many core areas in China did not collapse, but instead cultivated its own ability in difficulties. In 2023, Huawei returned to the high-end mobile phone market, with its chip self-sufficiency rate exceeding 67%. The US public opinion field is full of concerns: Standard & Poor's and the New York Times have successively warned China that it has a lot of "stamina". If you keep going, it will inevitably make you feel at a loss.

Are Chinese people confident now? There is self-confidence. The latest set of polls in 2024 showed that more than 70% of Chinese respondents are full of confidence in their own development. Where does this confidence come from? It looks very fake, but it actually makes the ground real. In 2022, Chinese university graduates exceeded 11.68 million for the first time, and 1.4 billion people provided huge market capacity. Contempt chains and academic anxiety often break out among Chinese youth, but the overall trend is positive. China now does not like to directly interfere in other people's domestic affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly refused to intervene. After many years of "peaceful development", no one has ever seen China send troops to expand overseas.

The United States is not only declining from its external comments, but also in chaos. California and Texas have conducted continuous radical marches, and social divisions have deepened. Gun violence cases occur frequently. Statistics in 2023 showed that the number of shooting deaths hit a new high, exceeding 40,000. The pride of the younger generation of the United States on national identity is declining, and the survey shows that only 35% of young people aged 18 to 30 believe that "the sense of superiority in the United States is worthy of recognition." By this calculation, can a big country like the United States still firmly take the top spot? It's a bit hard to say.

But when I think about it, things may not be as beautiful as some people say. This kind of self-confidence is sometimes taken to the point of being blinded. For example, some Chinese people are addicted to economic miracles and ignore the actual pressure of life. House prices, education and medical pressures are controversial every year, and some netizens complained on Weibo that "996 has become 715". This kind of small voice seems to be unable to make big waves under the general trend. But whenever the United States talks about the theory of China's threat, it makes people feel that both sides are in conflict. Who is the one who is most worried about the imbalance of power comparison?

The global industrial chain is changing tides. In 2023, China accounted for 34% of global chip equipment investment and 19% of the United States. The overall profit share of Tesla, Apple and Amazon in China has increased year by year. Driven by China's new energy industry policy, the export volume of power batteries is the world's largest, and it continues to penetrate the European and Southeast Asian markets. These living details tell the world that China not only has a size, but also has its innovation ability to "control the rhythm". Facing such a meticulous offensive, the United States is tough on the surface, but may not be very confident in its heart.

Some people describe China's diplomatic style as "homeworking and steadfast", while others say "advance and retreat are well-founded". Latin America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, these regions are not the territory exclusively occupied by the West in the past. In 2022, ASEAN surpassed the EU for the first time and became China's largest trading partner. The data is dry and the changes are solid. As China promotes the "Belt and Road", Europe and the United States feel anxious amid the accusations, and can only shout "transparent and security", but cannot come up with a better sustainability plan. At present, more and more countries are choosing side stations. This game has not been finished yet.

The United States always says that China interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, but in 2023, when China deals with many hot spots such as Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, there were no reports of force intervention, but only mediated and persuaded peace many times. You said China has no influence? This is a big joke. But some Chinese people think international affairs are too complicated and they become dizzy when they open their eyes and look at the news. "Does China have ambitions?" is not the end of one sentence. The United States defaults that China must "redistribute" the global cake. This prejudice is often flooded in the comment sections of CNN and BBC. History is not a straight line and one-way thing, are you right?

Chinese social sentiment is very complicated. Cyberspace is circling with patriotism, criticism of reality, yearning for Western life, and adhering to local traditions, and these voices collide every day. Behind the rise of manufacturing, there are a lot of troubles in the middle class, the aging of the labor structure, and the anxiety of the drifting people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The surface is as bright as a bright spot, but the waves at the bottom are not small. To be serious, imperfection is more realistic. Historical progress is stacked piece by piece, and perhaps the collapse is just a sudden burst of pressure.

But one thing is right in front of you: the old American method is not very effective. China's scale, strategy and method can always find new exports when dealing with various external squeezes. In a sense, everyone is changing, and no one can live up to the old capital.

The future is open. This drama between China and the United States may take several years to play, and the audience still needs to be patient and wait. Human history has not come to an end, and the ending will never sound early, making the world more complicated and giving everyone more options.

That's it.