People attend a religious service at the Qoide Monastery in Gonggar County of Shannan Prefecture, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 2, 2018. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi)

The US House of Representatives on January 28 passed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019. The bill aims to modify and reauthorize the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, urging the US government to take proactive actions.

This bill is not the only one passed by the current US Congress that meddles in the Tibet question. The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 was signed by US President Donald Trump into law in December 2018. The US Congress has been interfering in the Tibet question on the pretext of human rights and democracy since the 1980s.

Some of the content of the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019 is consistent with the positions and actions of the US Congress. For example, the bill requires that the US shall provide "funds to nongovernmental organizations" to support various projects for "Tibetan communities in Tibet," subsidize broadcasts of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia directed at Tibet, and promote "substantive dialogue without preconditions" between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama.

Differing from previous acts, this new bill underlines the policy regarding the succession or reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. It reveals that the US does not treat Tibetan affairs from the perspective of ethnics, religion and human rights, and it has been meddling in China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. China should remain vigilant of such US attempts to interfere in its internal affairs.

In recent years, the US Congress has repeatedly meddled in China's domestic affairs, proposing several acts targeting Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan. These acts have played a negative role in dealing with relevant issues.

On the one hand, the continuous legislative actions of the US Congress have shaped US public opinion toward China, and ratcheted up pressure on the executive branch of the US to deal with China-related affairs. This has undermined the development of China-US relations.

On the other hand, the legislation has greatly encouraged the secessionist forces in Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong both psychologically and physically, making their secessionist activities more rampant. This has posed a severe challenge to China's national security.

This bill on Tibet is just tip of the iceberg of US policy toward China, which shows US domestic politics is significantly influencing China-US strategic competition. In the past decades, the two countries' need for common development made China-US cooperation free from the impact of US domestic politics, ensuring smooth progress of bilateral relations. However, the situation has changed greatly.

Since Trump became US president, the superpower has been undergoing the worst period since the end of the Cold War. Washington has been seeking scapegoats for its domestic problems, such as political polarization, economic woes, and ethnic estrangement. China has unfortunately become the target of US politicians.

Anti-China forces in the US have claimed that competition between China and the US is not only a rivalry and struggle for power, but also a fight between two political systems, ideologies and civilizations. Under such circumstances, the "China threat" theory has staged a comeback. Some people in the US are even urging Washington to intensify its attacks on China's political and social systems, in a bid to affect China's domestic governance and stability, and disrupt China's rise.

The Trump administration has been piling pressure on China in terms of ideology and human rights. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross even said the novel coronavirus epidemic, which China is right now sparing no efforts to contain, would help "accelerate the return of jobs to North America." Such an appalling statement at a time of crisis shows Washington lacks the courage to engage in fair competition. 

If the US continues to increase its interference in China's domestic affairs, in light of the differences in their political systems and ideologies, US meddling will impede dialogue and mutual trust in related fields between the two countries, affecting their pragmatic cooperation and increasing the possibility of an all-out confrontation.

Once the rivalry between the two countries centers on ideology, the risk of a new cold war cannot be ruled out. This would have a devastating impact on bilateral ties. Shortsighted US lawmakers, who are only concerned about reelection when voting to pass the China-related acts, are failing to consider the negative effects on China-US relations over the long run.

The author is an assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn