Illustration: Liu Rui/GT
"Silicon Valley has a China envy problem," The New York Times (NYT) wrote on Wednesday - a rare, if reluctant, recognition of China’s achievements. Yet between the lines lies a deeper confession: US’ own self-doubt.
The article opens bluntly, "In social media posts, podcasts, interviews and newsletters, the elites of the American tech sector are marveling at China’s speed in building infrastructure, its manufacturing might and the ingenuity of the A.I. company DeepSeek. At the same time, they are lamenting aging infrastructure and cumbersome regulations in the United States, and an economy that can’t seem to make screws or drones, or the machines that manufacture them."
The article continues, "Among Silicon Valley leaders and policy-minded Democrats, there is a fascination with China. It’s a mix of curiosity, anxiety and envy. Long-held assumptions about China are being re-evaluated."
However, very quickly, the sour tone typical of Western media coverage of China emerges: "But for all its strengths, China’s system carries enormous costs." The NYT article acknowledges that China’s system has advantages, but adding that "the state-driven model that builds record-breaking bridges has left some provinces buried in debt."
This critique reads more like self-comfort. The US is enduring a 22-day government shutdown - the second-longest in history - leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers on furlough, over a million of them unpaid, with the national debt topping $38 trillion. And yet, it frets over whether China’s local provinces are trapped in "debt."
The core of US’ problem is how it perceives and frames issues. What needs to be overcome is a deeply rooted "Western-centric" arrogance, Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times. Shen explained that in the past, the US consistently belittled the Chinese model, driven by this very arrogance. Today, the pattern is more subtle: It acknowledges China’s achievements but hunts for flaws - like "debt" or "enormous costs" - to soothe its sour envy. At its heart, this anxiety is a refusal to confront real issues. Rather than viewing China objectively, the US is avoiding facing its own shortcomings.
Shen added that this very article of the NYT overlooks a crucial point: structural imbalances within the capitalist system - especially an overreliance on and pursuit of financial capital - distort innovation. For instance, AI in the US is often aimed at generating financial returns rather than fostering new quality productive forces. What the article misses is that China’s success lies in building and nurturing an innovation ecosystem with the goal of enhancing new quality productive forces.
Western media have long sensationalized China’s local debt - stories that have circulated for over a decade. Yet while China’s bridges are built, high-speed rails run smoothly, and AI labs operate at full capacity, the US, despite ambitious infrastructure plans, spends vast sums and sees little in return.
The US’ problem is clear: it has an eye for spotting problems but has lost the ability to solve them. China faces challenges as well, but crucially, it has the capacity to tackle them, and keeps moving forward in the process, Shen said.
In the past, China’s model didn’t fear being underestimated. Today, it is unconcerned with being overestimated either. China keeps its focus on its own course, moving steadily forward. It is the US that needs to maintain a sober perspective, confront reality, and clearly assess its own challenges.
Nonetheless, the NYT’s acknowledgment of China’s achievements, small as it may seem, represents progress. Hopefully, this progress will be accompanied by greater calm and objectivity, helping to elevate China-US exchanges to a higher level. Reality has long shown that the relationship between the two is not a zero-sum game. Competition exists, yes, but cooperation offers far more room. More rational voices are needed to guide the US’ attention away from "who is stronger" toward "how can both coexist better."
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/1024/c90000-20381171.html