Some U.S. officials' reactions over a recent security breach of the databases of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management have once again revealed their political parochialism and stubbornness of holding stereotypes towards China.
While Senator Angus King, who is on Congress's Intelligence Committee, admitted that the attacks on the personnel office were state-sponsored but he was not able to "confirm the identity of the entity behind the attack," insinuations and even harsh bashing over China have begun to prevail in U.S. papers, TV and websites.
It kind of becomes a regular stunt now, to blame China: it is easy, for no concrete evidence is needed to throw speculations over a country the United States sees as a challenger. Additionally, it seems "politically right" to demonize China at the moment.
Aside from the latest round of groundless accusations against China over cyber hacking, the recent anti-China hysteria seems to be part of a U.S. witch-hunt of China, following the heightened tension over the rift on China's island constructions in the South China Sea.
At a time when the economic and people-to-people connections between China and the United States are more active than ever and when terrorists run amok in the Middle East, the recent grudge the United States holds against China appears unreasonable and even beyond comprehension.
One of the reasons, perhaps, is that some U.S. politicians, who often have a cultural superiority complex over developing countries including China, fail to develop a full understanding of the Asian giant both culturally and politically.
The New York Times Wednesday cited James Lewis, a cyber-expert at the Center of Strategic and International Studies, as saying that "if you are a Chinese person who didn't report contacts or relationships with an American, you may have a problem."
His assertion proves to be absurd. Unlike Washington's peeping on its citizens and the rest of the world, as unveiled by Edward Snowden, former employee of the U.S. National Security Agency, Chinese government firmly respects the privacy of the people in and out of China.
As one of the biggest victims of cyber crimes, China has reiterated on many occasions that China firmly opposes to and fights all forms of hacking attacks in the cyber space in accordance with law.
Being a country with the most advanced and powerful cyber technology in the world, the United States should set itself as an example first for other countries on safeguarding cyber security.
Washington should take more positive measures and contribute to promoting trust and cooperation with its foreign partners in guarding the cyber space.
