Frequently Asked Questions

This is a very important question, and this is the question we should ask our leaders like President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Why are we driving a war that would affect billions of people and the pristine ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific? Why are we fueling hate towards China, that is already hurting the lives of Asian Americans before taking us to another unending war? Why are we focusing on competing with China, instead of engaging in diplomacy and cooperating to address the biggest challenges facing humanity globally? Who benefits from all of this?

Here are some thoughts that have been written on this question:

Washington’s War Machine and U.S.-China Relations published by China Focus

How US arms dealers profit from ‘China threat’ published by Asia Times

The War Caucus Always Wins published by The Intercept

The US is militarizing in the Asia-Pacific in the name of “deterrence” for a war with China, but it fuels tension at a cost to the billions of people and pristine ecosystems in the region. China is trapped in an encirclement by the US through increasing military presence and arms sales.

The US Marine Corps opened a new base in Guam in January, which was faced by protests of the Indigenous Chamorro people.

Watch CODEPINK webinar on the US militarization of Guam and Northern Mariana. 

The US expands more access to military facilities in the Philippines.

The US is also increasing military presence in Australia.

Japan is pushed to abandon its pacifist constitution written after WWII and expand its military to target China by buying weapons from American arms manufacturers.

The US began ramping up aggression towards China in the Obama Administration with “Pivot to Asia.” Round after round of trade wars with China took place under the Trump Administration. In the Biden Administration’s National Security Strategy, China is viewed as “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge.”

In 2023, the Congress established a new House Select Committee on China. This is the first congress committee to focus on competition with another country. Their first priority is to scrutinize Chinese-owned company TikTok.

The US manufactures consent to go to war with China by painting China as the aggressor. A former senior official said in a Bloomberg interview, “hawkish tone in DC has contributed to a cycle where the US makes the first move, interprets Chinese reactions as a provocation, and then escalates further.”

Information about the Chinese military is distorted to justify the historically high Pentagon budget for Fiscal Year 2023.

The Federal Reserve misrepresented China’s military spending.

Truth from inside China is censored in public discourse. Read our Pink Tank about about PBS’s bias against China. 

CODEPINK defends the rights of the Uyghurs and all ethnic minorities in China to live free and fruitful lives. Any violation of their human rights is of concern to us. At the same time, we call out the US government for using Xinjiang’s human rights situation to drive war with China. The most humane and rational way to improve human rights is an official dialogue between the US and China on protecting civil liberties on both sides of the Pacific and beyond. CODEPINK demands Joe Biden meet Xi Jinping in person for a summit that includes an open and good-faith discussion about human rights.

In 1979, the US and China normalized their diplomatic relations and issued the joint Shanghai Communique, recognizing that there is one China and that Taiwan is part of China. This “One China” policy has since ensured peaceful US-China relations for more than 50 years.

Read the Shanghai Communiques. 

Watch CODEPINK’s webinar on the Shanghai Communiques. 

Today, the people of Taiwan do not want US escalation that might drag them into war.

Watch CODEPINK Congress Capitol Calling Party on Taiwan featuring a speaker from Taiwan Labor Party. 

Read about the history of the progressive and long-standing movement in Taiwan for peaceful reunification with mainland China.

The most recent election in Taiwan showed that voters were more concerned about local issues, while relations with China were lower priorities.

China is building peaceful relations with other countries in the Global South through trade and investments in infrastructures.

Watch CODEPINK’s webinar on China in Africa. 

Read from our partners that debunk some myths about China’s investment in Africa.

https://peacepivot.org/myth-china-is-colonizing-africa/

https://popularresistance.org/the-chinese-debt-trap-is-a-myth/

Watch CODEPINK's webinar on how China's Belt and Road Initiative is uplifting countries in Latin America. 

In the Middle East, China is making trade partners. Countries that have historically depended on oil now look to diversify their economies, and China is making deals on 5G technology and clean energy.

Islamic scholars praise China’s effort in counter-terrorism within its border.

Anti-China rhetoric in politics places a great cost on the lives of Asian Americans.

Anti-Asian hate crime increased 339% in 2021, as US politicians scapegoated mass COVID-19 cases and deaths in the US on China. 

Scientists of Chinese descent are falsely arrested and charged for “espionage.” Academics and their families are devastated by deportation and sometimes imprisonment.

In turn, anti-Asian hate fuels US aggression towards China. A study found that racial bias makes white Americans more likely to support wars in nonwhite foreign countries.