Regarding China, don’t do stupid stuff

We are all interconnected citizens of Planet Earth.

Tiny particulate matter from 500 Canadian fires, capable of causing chronic respiratory disease, moved south and into Iowans’ lungs and bloodstreams.

The U.S. and China produce nearly 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But it is Pakistan that suffered putrid water over a third of the country and 1,500 deaths.

The good news? Instantaneous global communication between international and multinational organizations, governments, businesses and people, ease of transportation, and access to news from around the world.

Ford cars and trucks come from 64 plants in 13 countries. The “Texas” Norton Rose Fulbright law firm now has offices in 64 cities in 36 countries.

The greatest danger in the world?

According to recently retired Richard Haass, 20-year president of the Council on Foreign Relations, it’s no longer his former concerns — Russia, China, climate change or a pandemic. “It’s us,” he says, referring to the U.S. political instability and poor example of democracy. Among “democracy countries” the U.S. has dropped to 36 on the list.

Have you ever found yourself having to deal with an extended family member, neighbor or workplace colleague with whom you have less than zero in common? The best strategy? Desperately try to think of a compliment, while heading off conversations likely to end in violence.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously said, “You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” The same principle applies to “promoting prosperity while going to peace.”

At a minimum you follow President Barack Obama’s advice to his staff: “Don’t do stupid stuff.”

Which brings us to the current relations between China and the U.S.

Call me naive, but four-star General Mike Minihan’s prediction of war with China by 2025, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s publicized trip to Taiwan, the provocation of displaying our naval might near China, and our president announcing that China’s President Xi Jinping is a “dictator,” all strike me as “stupid stuff” — a schoolyard bully looking for a fight.

Are there differences in our two countries’ history, governments and sociology? Some things to be proud of, others to regret? Demands of China, or the U.S., that shouldn’t be agreed to? Of course.

We can’t transform China any more than marriage partners can transform each other, or China could force all Americans to speak Mandarin. As anthropologists have taught us, there are many patterns of culture that work. Or as Rumsfeld might have said, “You participate in global trade with the countries you have, not the countries you wish you had.”

China and the U.S. have built not one, but the two strongest economies in the world. Continuing to increase global understanding and cooperation can enrich us all. Stupidly flexing our military muscle, like a beach bully, only postpones that day while enriching the weapons manufacturers.

Nicholas Johnson prefers peaceful prosperity to strategies of stupid stuff. mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org