US House bill calling for revocation of China's developing country status shows zero-sum mentality

The United States House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday calling for the revocation of China's developing country status shows that Washington, driven by a zero-sum mentality, is trying to hamper China's growth, experts said.

If enacted, the PRC Is Not a Developing Country Act would require the US State Department to recommend that international organizations change China's status from a developing country to an upper middle-income country, high-income country or developed country.

The bill urges the US government not to treat China as a developing country under the terms of any treaty or other international agreement to which the US is a party, such as in the World Trade Organization, introduced by Representatives Young Kim, a Republican from California, and Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia.

It was not known whether or not the bill would be considered in the Senate. For a bill to become law, both the House and the Senate would need to pass it and the president's signature would be required.

Xu Liping, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences National Institute of International Strategy, said the move shows the intent of some politicians in Washington to hamper China's development and maintain US global hegemony.

He said that the international community is not the job of determining whether a country is a developing country or a developing country.

In addition, a country should be the one to initiate any change in its status rather than having it determined by another country, Xu said, adding that passage of the bill was illogical and reflected ulterior motives.

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Zhao Yongsheng, professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said there is no universal consensus as to what constitutes a developed country or what can be defined as a developing country.

There are economic factors such as the per capita GDP to non-economic factors like average life expectancy, levels of education and technological development, and Zhao said.

Wei Nanzhi, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the move was an old trick of the US.

This is a common practice for the US as a hegemonic country by setting an agenda against what Washington perceives as a threat and then working with its allies to hype it up.

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The US government likes to set up a strong external enemy to promote internal reform. She said that this is a domestic mobilization with an underlying warning sign to Americans: China is a dangerous enemy, and we must unite to solve our internal problems.