The Washington Post reported Sunday that the White House is working on a series of "unprecedented" economic sanctions against Chinese companies and individuals who "have benefited from their government's cyber theft of valuable US trade secrets." Quoting an anonymous official, the report said "the final call is expected soon, perhaps even within the next two weeks."

Right now, in the run up to Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to Washington, applying sanctions on Chinese companies over unverified accusations is an act that will willfully and irresponsibly sour the bilateral relationship.

Washington is deliberately hyping up these tricky issues in the bilateral ties. Take cyber security, for instance, by making noise and trying to catch the eyes of the international community over this issue, it is meant to pile pressure on China, in order to drive a hard bargain with Beijing at the Xi-Obama summit. In turn, Uncle Sam could gain more interests, while "forcing" China to make some compromises.

This practice mirrors Washington's consistent hegemonic thinking mode - wantonly blaming others while keeping its own privilege. As the rule-maker of the cyber world, operating a global surveillance network, Washington is adept at playing the victim game at sensitive times. The game doesn't cost Washington anything, but it can benefit it a lot, at least, China appears to be on the losing side of global public opinion.

China used to be too polite over the disputes concerning the Internet, and has indulged Washington's arrogance. Since China's mild attitude has not won US "reciprocation," Beijing should just quit keeping such a low profile, and give the White House back tit for tat.

China is not afraid of US public opinion hype, nor fears that the US would take action toward us.

All these years, the US government has been good at manipulating public opinion to serve its goals.

Maintaining a positive bilateral relationship takes mutual efforts, especially at a time when Sino-US ties are expected to tackle many of the global challenges facing us now. If the White House is serious in improving the most significant bilateral relationship in the 21st century, it should be more responsible.