Opinion | Speaking to power, Jeffrey Sachs is conscience of United States of America
By Augustus K. Yeung
I once had the pleasure of listening to Jeffrey Sachs, a world-class American economist with a reputation for being honest and knowledgeable. Jeffrey Sachs was the first U.S. scholar who had informed me about the lies Americans had been telling the world that Russia was being cheated and short-changed in believing that "NATO would not move one inch eastward" – based on his personal experience as an expert official economist.
I said China should invite solid scholars like Sachs to its colleges and universities to deliver speeches, as his spoken language is essentially good English, which is simple, direct, and daring.
I, therefore, wrote and introduced him to our platform readers. Low and behold, there he was, a keynote speaker invited to an address during the opening session of forum Qufu on July 10.
Mind you, Qufu was the birthplace of Confucius. Shandong, the renowned province, had famously first defeated the Imperial Japanese Army in China's war against its aggression in WWII.
Qufu was also the capital of the state of Lu in the Spring and Autumn and Warring Period, a five-hundred-year-long period in which ancient China was mired in wars, producing famous writers, philosophers, diplomats, and strategists such as Sun Tze, who penned the Art of War.
Qufu was historically the cultural and civilization center of ancient China. Top Western sinologists such as Ezra E. Vogel and Sir Wilson, the second-last Governor of Hong Kong, have always held Qufu in great respect.
The following is an inspirational and interesting local newspaper report, telling its readers loud and clear that China is being misunderstood and that the U.S. is no longer the leader of the world…
"U.S. scholar Jeffrey Sachs praises China's global development strategy" was the subtitle.
The 10th edition of the two-day forum has attracted 400 international guests from 63 countries and regions.
The forum's official aim is to provide solutions to better address global challenges and promote the progress of human civilization.
Prominent U.S. scholar Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, was one of the key speakers. He strongly criticized the U.S. administration's anti-China policies.
Sachs praised this "very important forum because it is bringing together people from all over the world to pursue shared ideals and peace and to learn about China's great culture, to learn about Confucianism and Confucius's wisdom, and the beauty of this civilization."
Sachs said the world's current main challenge was "to live together peacefully. We have eight billion people in the world. The world is crowded, and there's a lot of tension and many wars."
Sachs, 69, a renowned economist and public policy analyst, said that "these wars come from a misunderstanding, a lack of true knowledge, a lack of true ethical knowledge." He also said that many people in the U.S. "don't know the wonders of this Chinese civilization. They don't understand that China is not an enemy of the United States…And our political leaders in my country are not very responsible. They're not very knowledgeable."
Professor Sachs is a courageous scholar. He tells the truth about America, pointing out that the "political class" is distorting the current world perception, portraying China as a bad guy, when in fact, it has been doing good for decades, for example, in Africa, where the people are being transformed from abject poverty to a life that is no longer subhuman. (Source: Macau Post Daily)
This success story of Africa was, in fact, a mirror image of post-war impoverished China being transformed economically. And China's experience-based formular shows that "this is the way".
But first, the Chinese way is preceded by the absence of war – a precondition to long-term economic development, now generally known as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and the BRICS and others. And that will inspire the world.
Sachs predicted that "the U.S. elections won't change almost anything about U.S. policy towards China, which is misguided, based on misunderstandings and lots of propaganda…The problem is in our political class right now. The problem is understanding that the United States is not the world's leader. It can't have its say. What it can do is cooperate peacefully with China, Russia, and other countries, not only demanding that it has its say. Unfortunately, our political class is still unaware of this basic reality that the world has moved on."
Sachs said that "the world looks at the United States in amazement what is going on there, not in any kind of respect right now because everyone is shocked. And so, this is the real situation. But the key is to get that understanding without more intervening wars."
He remarked that the "best thing that China is doing diplomatically is talking about peace and sustainable development in the world. And if the U.S. and Europe are talking about war, the more China talks about peace, harmony, diversity, and sustainable development, the more the rest of the world runs in this direction to say, yes, that's what we want. We don't want war. We don't want to choose sides. It's not us versus them. We want safety, security, peace, and sustainable development…"
"Most of the world wants to get on, solve the climate crisis, solve the environmental crises and poverty, benefit from the new technologies, and not be told, oh, you can't deal with this one. You can't deal with that one. This one is good. That one's evil. That's the American approach, which is completely outdated and dangerous…"
Sachs concluded that "we need a new approach. And the best way for China is to promote that what it is doing through [their] initiatives…"
Professor Jeffrey Sachs is speaking the unspeakable truth; in essence, he is the conscience and voice of America.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
To contact the writer, please direct email:AugustusKYeung@ymail.com
Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:
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