Dr. Mahmoud Dehghan, in an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, referred to the efforts of the American and Chinese authorities to make the preparations ready for the meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting and noted: They claim that the two countries should manage their differences and cooperate in responding to global challenges.

Referring to the most important challenges of the US and China, especially in the fields of trade, the conflict with Japan, the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, the strengthening of China’s military power, territorial issues including the Taiwan Peninsula, maintaining peaceful competition and human rights issues, he emphasized that the war is about taking over the largest amount of GDP in the world, adding: From the point of view of the United States, China has reached a red line that may take the leadership of the GDP in the world from the hands of the US, with such a development, the United States does not have the first priority in production and many countries will decide to convert their foreign exchange reserves from dollar to local or regional currencies.

Saying that the US is trying to prevent this situation by resorting to any leverage, he continued: The White House attempted to target China’s allies in the first step. It is true that, first of all, what we are witnessing in connection with the war in Ukraine was the result of Mr. Putin’s lack of correct prediction, but it was the Americans who set such a trap in advance. When Russia occupied the Crimean islands, the US smiled and did not interfere. In fact, it gave a green light for the next advance. At the same time, they prepared to create another swamp for it, and they were successful in this regard.

Dehghan added: The US was trying to involve China with Taiwan somehow and create another scene like the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but China prioritized advancing its economic goals by managing this situation. During the war between Ukraine and Russia, the Chinese followed the same economic development policy and did not give any military aid to Russia in order not to create an excuse to expand the Russian sanctions on China and intensify the pressure against them. Europe also got so involved in the Ukraine war that it did not want to involve itself in a war on two fronts by helping the United States.

He emphasized that the differences between China and the US cannot be resolved through negotiations. The fact that the US has announced that in the 2023 and 2024 strategies and the long term, China is their first enemy is a correct assessment because Russia has no ability to fight economically like in the past, and its military power has also decreased.

The university professor said the US will do everything to avoid losing its position. There is a possibility that if a third world war is formed between the West and China, it will take on the leadership and win first place in the gross domestic product (GDP), which will happen sooner or later. Referring to China’s emphasis on the necessity of cooperation to create a peaceful competition, he stated: In fact, China has taken a path from which it cannot go back. Stopping China on the path of development means turning back, and this country is forced to continue its path. All policies that China undertakes, including the Belt and Road Initiative, the development of cooperation with Central Asian countries, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Arab countries, have formed an economic hegemony based on which it can easily eliminate its competitors and even its allies from the arena and impose its interests. The United States has noticed this situation.

Emphasizing that in the world, it is the political and economic power that has the final word, he said: Both China and the US are negotiating, but they are expanding their nuclear weapons, they are planning to conquer the skies, and in political organizations, they confront each other. China also cannot reduce its production and economic growth in order to gain the satisfaction of the US and reduce tensions because it will receive a heavy and unbearable blow.