Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

In US President Barack Obama's administration, Vice President Joe Biden has been called a trouble-shooter and has always been assigned to deal with troubles in Iraq or Afghanistan, or tricky matters like gun control in the US.

But Biden can sometimes also be a trouble-maker due to his big mouth. For example, he has once mentioned that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged in a private conversation that Turkey allowed foreign militants to cross its border into Syria. He has also hinted that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had provided arms and money for the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or other extremist groups in Syria. Such remarks triggered complains from both Turkey and the UAE, and Biden had to swallow his pride and apologize to them.

When it comes to issues involving China, Biden has also made a number of controversial comments. Earlier this month, when he was answering a question during an interview in Australia, he said that "We expect China to play by the same rules as everyone else."

Again, it's about "rules." If we carefully study the use of this term by Washington, it can be easily found that the word is overly abused.

When Obama was busy running for president in 2008, South China Sea issue was not even in his sight. But after July 2010, when then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton claimed that the US has a national interest in the waters, the issue had been forcefully hyped.

Ever since, the White House has stealthily added an appendix to the South China Sea issue - "Beijing should abide by international rules." It later attached a false accusation that freedom of navigation was under threat. After frequent flexing its military muscles in front of China's doorstep, it has finally created a South China Sea arbitration case.

The US stresses that Beijing must follow the global rules every time it mentions the waters, but it failed to specify what exact rules to comply with. Given that it is a maritime dispute, the biggest international rule should be the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which the US congress has not yet ratified.

Obama has been urging his country to accept the UNCLOS, yet facing the Senate and the House controlled by the Republican Party, his remarks are always been simply ignored.

US presidents like to use the saying of Teddy Roosevelt "Speak softly and carry a big stick," which he claimed was a West African proverb. Washington seems to have used its stick more often in Latin America, Afghanistan and Iraq, but why in terms of China, it has only spoken softly by using "international rules?" The answer is simple, China is not the Nicaragua, Haiti, or Mexico of the past, nor today's Afghanistan or Iraq. How to treat a constantly rising China has become a new strategic challenge that makes the US struggle.

While US officials talk about Beijing-Washington ties, they often use the phrase that "the US welcomes the rise of a peaceful, prosperous China" and "it will not contain China in any way." However, its rebalance to Asia-Pacific strategy, military arrangement in the West Pacific ocean, island chain diplomacy that creates alliance or partnerships around China, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership are nothing but containment in the post-Cold War era.

Frankly speaking, the US is worried that China's rise will threaten its status of being the only super power in the world. For many US politicians who are still seeing the world with an ideological mentality, China's rise is of course a threat. But such logic is the root cause of disturbance and destruction of the Sino-US relationship, and the source of US actions in demonizing China globally under the mask of "international rules."

Beijing has never been a rule-breaker. The country has spared no effort in joining the WTO, showing that it wants to be familiar, abide by and resort to global rules to benefit China and the world. Over the recent years, with its growing national strength, it has become a participant, a builder and maintainer of the international system.

On the global arena, China is now facing the toughest phase. During the process of striding toward excellence, one has to experience a lot of unfair doubts and jealousy. So is a country's emergence.

Hence, China needs willpower now more than ever to face all the challenges and has to keep developing through all the contemptuous looks and resentment stemming from jealousy. In that case, be it soft words or big sticks, no one can stop the country from achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 

The author is a senior People's Daily correspondent stationed in the US. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn