Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Recently, a senior US official warned Britain about opening part of its 5G network to Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei, saying that this move may allow China to "control the internet of the future" and "divide Western alliances through bits and bytes." Also, the US placed Huawei on its so-called "Entity List" and exerted tremendous effort to suppress it.

Some American officials rushed around the world to sell the "harmful Chinese technologies" theory. They hold a paranoid hostility toward all inventions and creations by Chinese scientists and technicians, endlessly slandering and libeling them. However, justice naturally inhabits people's hearts, and the world knows that no matter how stirred a pond is, when everything quiets down, clear water always remains on top while filthy mud falls to the bottom.

Hyping the "harmful Chinese technologies" theory reveals some Americans' inexplicable jealousy with the development of China's science and technology, which is also an excuse for political suppression using technical and political intimidation. Their true intention is to delay China's progress.

Data from IPlytics, a German patent database company, showed that by March this year, China accounted for 34.02 percent of the number of standard essential patent applications required for 5G communications, while the US share was only 14 percent, which is exactly what some Americans are worried about. 

US officials have blatantly declared that 5G is a zero-sum arms race that the US must win and that 5G networks must not be in the enemy's control, indicating that the US has spread its Cold War mentality into the field of science and technology and has been attempting to shackle the development of the world's science and technology within an enclosed circle. It is against the trend of the times. Misleading the public by false words and hindering the progress of science and technology in other countries through political suppression shows the world its sinister psychology and ferocious face.

In 2018, the total number of R&D personnel in China was expected to reach 4.18 million, ranking first in the world. The number of international scientific papers and citations ranked second, the number of invention patent applications and authorizations ranked first, the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress increased to 58.5 percent and the country's comprehensive innovation capability ranked 17th in the world. These figures show the pace of China's move from the world's factory to a world-class innovation platform. These facts carry the hardworking spirit and innovation energy of the Chinese people. Why is China's scientific and technological innovation a "threat?" If scientific and technological innovation was threat, isn't the US, with so many cutting-edge technologies, the world's No.1 threat? 

The US has never stopped using technology to serve its political ends. Many have said that the US monitors the whole world and the truth revealed by Edward Snowden will never fade away. The logic of the Americans is that they have done abominable things with science and technology, and thus others will do them, too. It gauges the heart of a gentleman with one's own mean measure.

China has made the world better with the development of its own science and technology and has won praise from people all over the world. China's Green Super Rice designed for resource-poor regions in Africa and Asia has been tested and promoted in 18 countries. Artemisinin discovered by a Chinese scientist has saved millions of lives around the world. 

Holding mankind's common dream of exploring the vast universe, China has actively promoted international space cooperation and completed the Chang'e-4 mission, opening a new chapter in the exploration of the moon. China is committed to continue implementing the Belt and Road Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Action Plan, and works together with all parties to promote four major initiatives: scientific, technological and cultural exchanges, joint construction of laboratories, cooperation in science and technology parks, and technology transfers. 

Bridging development and prosperity with its technology, China injects confidence and opportunity in world science and technology. Amidst mutually beneficial and win-win scientific and technological cooperation, people of all countries have savored the fragrance of China's scientific and technological achievements, yet also the stink of some people in the US who tarnish and slander China's achievements.

A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping the global innovation landscape, and the development of science and technology demands a global perspective. Artificially provoking the "technological cold war" and trying to drop the Iron Curtain in the vast field of scientific and technological development will not slow its pace. Only opening and innovation can lead to prosperity and development. Any attempt to drag global scientific and technological cooperation into the mud will inevitably provoke opposition from countries and peoples around the world who love peace and desire development.

As the Chinese poem goes, "A thousand sails pass by the shipwreck, and ten thousand saplings shoot up beyond the withered tree." Anyone who attempts to stand in the way and place a stumbling block on the road of China's scientific and technological development is doomed to fail.

The author is a commentator with the People's Daily. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn