The Longer Telegram strategy paper of the US China has prompted little discussion in Beijing

BEIJING – A recent US strategy paper on China widely read in Washington, DC, has received only a temporary response in Beijing, where limited public discussion focused on one point: the author misjudged China.

“The Longer Telegram,” released in late January, proposed how the new US administration should deal with an emerging China through detailed criticism of the Communist Party government under President Xi Jinping.

An effective US approach to China requires “the same disciplined approach that it took to the defeat of the Soviet Union,” the paper said. “US strategy must remain laser-focused on Xi, its inner circle, and the Chinese political context in which they rule.”

The anonymous author is a “former senior US government official,” according to the DC-based think tank Atlantic Council that published the lengthy paper.

The play attempts to reiterate a historical document that shaped Washington’s policy towards the Soviet Union – dubbed “The Long Telegram”. It was shipped from Moscow in February 1946 at the outbreak of the Cold War.

So far, the major state media in Beijing hasn’t discussed the newspaper much, other than the rowdy state-sponsored tabloid Global Times, and even then, almost entirely in English. “‘Longer Telegram’, a late stage hegemonic farce,” was the title of an op-ed.

On the official news website of China’s People’s Liberation Army, a Chinese article portrayed the strategy piece as an outdated mindset, and compared the view of the country to a recent state media report about a Chinese woman’s ability to get out of poverty .

China’s Foreign Ministry – in response to a question from a Global Times reporter – criticized “The Longer Telegram” for calling to restrain China.

The ministry said, according to an official translation, that such remarks against the ruling Communist Party were “a collection of rumors and conspiracy theories” and that attempts to conflict US-China relations would result in “total failure.”

The sparse state-level commentary comes as tensions between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies and run by vastly different government systems.

“The Longer Telegram” caused a lot of controversy in the world of US foreign policy, with critics saying the paper mischaracterizes China and places too much emphasis on Xi’s role. But many agree with the paper’s call for a more thoughtful US policy on China.

Beijing is concerned about the growing cohesion around a tougher American stance on China.

“The Longer Telegram” does not represent the reality of China and is not a good starting point for dialogue, said Shen Yamei, deputy director and associate research fellow at the state-sponsored think tank China Institute of International Studies’ US division.

According to Shen, the mistake the newspaper makes is that it does not apply in this situation, as China did not say it wanted to replace the US. She added that it is the US that cares if it will lose its central position in the US. world.

Critics say China’s state-dominated system benefited from joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 without quickly incorporating the kind of free market and rules-based system that countries like the US have advocated.

To counter these developments, “The Longer Telegram” says the US should set clear red lines and points of national security for Beijing that, if exceeded, would provoke a firm response from the US.

Some of these red lines include a Chinese military strike or economic blockade on Taiwan, according to the report, which also said the US should take more vigorous action against Chinese threats to the US’s global communications systems.

The author of the original “Long Telegram” in 1946 was US diplomat George Kennan, who responded from Moscow to a question from the US State Department about the Soviet Union’s foreign policy. Kennan published a related article in the Foreign Affairs magazine under the pseudonym “X” the following year and began a short term as US Ambassador to Moscow in 1952.

In his paper, Kennan stated that the Russians were determined to expand the Soviet system worldwide and against coexistence with the West. He believed that instead of reconciliation, the US should exert pressure to cooperate with the Soviet government, or possibly even to its internal collapse.

For more than 70 years – including the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 – the US led a so-called liberal world order in which international institutions set rules for a global system.

That has begun to shift over the past decade, with China’s growing economic and technological influence alongside former US President Donald Trump’s single-handed approach to foreign policy.

It is not yet clear what action President Joe Biden will take, but he is sticking to China, albeit with a calmer tone than the previous administration.

“The challenges with Russia may be different from those with China, but they are just as real,” Biden said in a speech to European allies last week.

Biden made his first call as president with Xi earlier this month. The US President and First Lady also gave a video greeting for the Lunar New Year, which was widely shared on Chinese social media.

Scattered online commentary about “The Longer Telegram” remained dismissive.

In an approximately 30-minute video on Feb. 5 with over 900,000 views, Professor Shen Yi of Fudan University jokingly dismissed the paper’s attempt to repeat Kennan’s efforts.

An online article from Feb. 7 by Professor Qiao Xinsheng, professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said in an online article that the strategy paper does not accurately analyze the Soviet Union’s own difficulties and that the US should not expect China ” will fall apart ”.