US Forsakes Good for the Sake of Gold

道义高地容不下背信弃义

Zhong Sheng

钟声

Interests can only be acquired through harmonious relations. However, some short-sighted American politicians just don’t understand it, and instead abandoned the international justice that the US used to take pride in. Their practices revealed the essence of the US, a betrayer of justice who forsakes good for the sake of gold.

“利者，义之和也。”一些目光短浅的美国政客怕是不明白这个道理，反而亲手抛弃了曾经自我标榜的国际道义，让世人看清了什么叫见利忘义、什么叫背信弃义。

Since 1940s, the US rose to be the strongest power of the world, and gradually changed its isolationism policies and took an active part in global affairs to promote its values, making great stride in shaping the image of a “greatest power”. It called itself the “leader of the free world” and an “indispensable nation”. However, the current administration of the country is maxing out Washington’s morality that has already been widely questioned.

上世纪40年代以来，美国成为全球头号强国，并逐渐改变曾经的“孤立主义”政策，积极参与全球事务，宣传其价值理念，极力塑造“第一大国”形象，编织了美国“自由世界领袖”“必不可少的国家”等神话。然而，这届美国政府却要将本就广受质疑的所谓道义家底彻底败光。

US politicians, under the banner of the so-called “free, fair and reciprocal” trade, are waving the “big stick” of tariffs and exerting extreme pressure. They pretend to build an open environment for investment, but are indeed pressuring the enterprises of other countries out of no reason. These US politicians have shifted domestic development contradictions and deceived the general public, and withdrawn from global treaties such as the Paris Agreement while making fancy speeches to take international responsibilities. The US poses as an important force to safeguard the world peace, but is arbitrarily interfering with the internal affairs of other countries. It groundlessly accused other countries of violating human rights, but has quit the United Nations Human Rights Council itself. A poll conducted by management consulting company Gallup in 134 countries indicated a continuous drop in the global approval of the US leadership. The rating was down nearly 20 percentage points from a few years ago.

美国一些政客嘴上说着“自由、公平和互惠的贸易”，却不断挥舞关税大棒，搞极限讹诈；口口声声说“打造开放投资环境”，却以“莫须有”名义打压他国企业；自身发展遇到问题，却蒙骗民众，转嫁国内矛盾；天天高谈阔论国际责任，自己却单方面退出巴黎协定等国际条约；自我标榜“维护世界和平的重要力量”，却肆意干预他国内政；毫无根据地指责别国侵犯人权，自己却执意退出联合国人权理事会……咨询机构盖洛普的一项民调显示，在抽取的134个国家中，对当下的美国持正面看法的人持续减少，和几年前相比降幅高达近20个百分点。

Nowadays, everybody knows clearly what US justice means — everything that conforms to American interests, and those aren't helpful for achieving “America first” are unjust. Even many of the country’s allies have taken a beating. They were left unprepared as the US unilaterally withdrew from the Washington-initiated Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, and the hard-won negotiation results of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action were also wasted upon the US withdrawal. Just in less than a month after the US and the European Union issued a joint statement to halt tariff plans, Washington once again threatened to slap a 25-percent tariff on automobiles. Even American political scientist Joseph Nye who coined the term of "soft power" has to admit that the “soft power” of the US has been weakened.

现如今，大家都看清了所谓美式道义的真相：符合美国利益的就是“道义”的，无助于实现“美国优先”就是“不道义”的。连美国众多盟友也吃了大亏。美国单方面退出由其牵头的跨太平洋伙伴关系协定，给其他参与国来了个措手不及；美国单方面宣布退出伊朗核问题全面协议，使多年艰苦谈判的成果付诸东流；美国刚与欧盟发表暂缓加征关税的联合声明不到一个月，就再次要挟对汽车加征25%关税……提出“软实力”概念的约瑟夫·奈都不得不承认，美国的“软实力”已经遭到削弱。

The US distortion and neglect of international justice exposed the extreme pragmatism of the US politicians. They see no value and rules in international exchanges, but only bare trade of interests and confrontation of powers. The so-called justice is only a tool for them to fight for influence, make hypes, and seek private profits. American scholar Laurence Duggan once pointed out that the US policies were indeed imperialism in disguise of idealism that explains its self-serving practices in a moral rhetoric. This makes it easier to understand why US politicians are double dealers who use whatever that suits their interests and abandon whatever that does not.

美国对国际道义的扭曲和蔑视，暴露了一些美国政客极端实用主义的处事做派。在他们看来，国际交往根本毫无价值、规则可言，仿佛除了赤裸裸的利益交换，就是力量对抗。而所谓“道义”，不过是他们争夺话语权、营造舆论，并最终谋取私利的工具而已。美国学者劳伦斯·达根一针见血地指出，“美国的政策是打着‘理想'旗号的变相帝国主义”“是用道德高尚的辞藻对损人利己的行为进行解释”。这就不难理解，为什么一些美国政客总是嘴上说一套，实际做一套，对待国际规则更是“合则用、不合则弃”。

Morality makes a person stand and a country prosper. International justice is not only a basis from which voices are made, but also a consensus of the international community on certain issues. It represents the values upheld by human society. For instance, different countries should cooperate with and help each other rather than isolation, keep promises rather than backtracking, and respect each other with an equal mind rather than resorting to supremacy and bullying practices. The countries that arbitrarily trample on the recognized values and principles will end up as a target of public criticism. US policymakers shall understand the traditional Chinese philosophy: those who stand with morality receive wide support and those who go against it receive little.

人无德不立，国无德不兴。真正的国际道义，不仅是国际话语权的基础，更代表着国际社会对一些问题的共识，表征着人类文明对一些价值理念的尊崇。比如要互助合作，而不能以邻为壑；要遵信守义，而不是反复无常；要相互尊重，与他国平等相待，而不能搞唯我独尊、霸凌主义那一套……肆无忌惮践踏公认的价值准则，只能成为众矢之的，遭到国际社会的谴责。正所谓“得道者多助，失道者寡助”，美国决策者应当明白这个道理。

As a major country, the US shall absolutely take its responsibilities and showcase a wisdom that matches its size in front of the complicated problems. In today’s world, the international influence of a country is not determined by only power, but to a large extent the values it jointly holds with other countries, the consensuses it reached with other nations, and the cooperation it conducts with its partners. These will help it achieve win-win results and common progress with the world.

美国前总统林肯有句名言，“人所能负的责任，我必能负；人所不能负的责任，我亦能负。如此，你才能磨炼自己，求得更高的知识而进入更高的境界。”美国作为全球大国，理应负起应有的责任。越是在复杂问题面前，越应显示出与自身体量相匹配的风度和智慧。要知道，在当今世界，一个国家的国际影响力，并不简单取决于其拥有的力量，归根到底靠的是守住共同的价值，推动形成更广泛的共识、达成更广泛的合作，最终实现互利共赢、共同发展。

A righteous man follows morality, practices justice and values reputation, as the old saying goes. Only by acting in an upright manner can a country be recognized by the world. The US politicians should understand a basic rule that backtracking is never tolerated by morality, as such practice is irresponsible to their country and people, as well as the progress of world development and human civilization.

“所守者道义，所行者忠信，所惜者名节。”一个国家只有堂堂正正，才会赢得世人的认可。奉劝美国一些政客搞明白一个最基本的道理，那就是道义高地容不下背信弃义，背信弃义无法对自己的国家和人民负责，也无法对世界发展和人类文明进步负责。