by Xinhua writer Bai Xu
CANBERRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The ancient Chinese philosophical sage Mencius once said: "A just cause enjoys abundant support while an unjust cause finds little."
The ancient Chinese aphorism came true when the isolated villainous king in William Shakespeare's play Richard III shouted "my kingdom for a horse," only to meet his doom at last.
Apparently, the East and the West, despite their cultural differences, share some similar cautionary tales against the danger of isolation.
Trade hawks in Washington, however, are taking reckless step to isolate itself by waging a trade war against many of its major trading partners and trampling on the widely-accepted spirit of free trade and the existing global trading system. Global economic recovery, as a result, is at stake.
To maintain its technological supremacy, Washington has been trying to repeat its semiconductor war against Japan back in the 1980s on China. However, the U.S. ban on the Chinese telecom firm Huawei has so far received only limited support.
Some major European countries disagree with Washington on its Huawei ban. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated that Huawei technology would not be excluded from the competition.
French President Emmanuel Macron said, "France and Europe are pragmatic and realistic ... We do believe in cooperation and multilateralism. At the same time, we are extremely careful about access to good technology and to preserve our national security and all the safety rules."
In Asia, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday that his country will make full use of the technology made available by Huawei in spite of the U.S. ban on the Chinese tech giant.
"U.S. had good capabilities to do research and development in the past. They must accept that that capability can also be found in the East," he told a conference in Tokyo.
Washington has also become more accustomed to abusing its super power status and bullying others for its own interests.
It threatened to economically punish Turkey should it not scrap the deal over the Russian S-400 defense systems. Instead, it wants Turkey to purchase the American-made Patriot system.
Turkey, however, has refused to back away from its deal with Russia, with Turkish officials saying they are preparing for the U.S. sanctions.
While trying to play dirty on trade and technology fronts, Washington is also shirking its global responsibilities as the world's only superpower.
In less than three years, the United States has walked away from many major international agreements and institutions, including the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran nuclear agreement, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
"America First" has become "America Alone."
Living in a globalized world, every country needs to cooperate with others to survive and thrive. But no one wants a partner that is arrogant, domineering and capricious.
While on a world stage where there is few partners and followers, the country would end up like the lonely king in The Little Prince.
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of UMMnews.
