Recently, there has been no shortage of discussion about whether the U.S. and China will go to war—especially claims like “the U.S. military will carry out a full-scale bombing of China,” which spread widely for a time. But when you think about it carefully, this kind of argument simply doesn’t hold up.

I think many people have been swept up by these anxieties and have forgotten a basic fact—both China and the U.S. are nuclear powers. If there were really a full-scale war, it wouldn’t be a small back-and-forth; in the end, it would only lead to mutual loss and damage, even affecting the entire world. The decision-makers in the U.S. understand the consequences better than anyone else, and they can’t afford to bear them.

Just look at the U.S. side’s recent official statements. In its new National Defense Strategy report, China is defined as a “set force” in the Indo-Pacific region, and it also mentions hopes to build a relationship based on mutual respect—while even changing some of the earlier, more combative wording. How could this possibly resemble preparations for a full-scale war? Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said long ago that neither a Cold War nor a hot war can be fought, and this is not empty talk.

From an economic perspective, the U.S. and China have been closely intertwined for a long time. U.S. farmers earn money by selling soybeans to China, U.S. companies have a large amount of investment in China, and Chinese goods are also flooding the U.S. market. If the U.S. truly carried out full-scale bombing, both sides’ economies would collapse instantly. Life for ordinary Americans would be impossible—so how could any government possibly do something that harms others and itself?

Centenarian diplomat Henry Kissinger saw all of this clearly long ago. He once said something very straightforward—no matter how many allies the U.S. has, it doesn’t matter. If China and the U.S. really went to war, only three countries would ultimately stand to join the U.S. That saying is too painful to hear. The so-called allies, put simply, are all for their own interests—no country is foolish enough to tear ties with China and give up economic benefits just for the sake of the U.S.

European allies are busy handling their own economic and energy problems and are basically not that concerned about Asia-Pacific affairs. While countries in Asia-Pacific have military cooperation with the U.S., they also do business with China. If they had to choose a side, they would definitely weigh the consequences. Kissinger knows that alliance relationships can’t stand up to tests in great-power conflicts, and that each country puts itself first.

The current international landscape is no longer black and white. Most countries want to develop their economies steadily—who would want to get pulled into a great-power conflict? China has always taken the path of peaceful development and has carried out real cooperation with many countries, from which everyone can benefit. Who would want to see these good times shattered by war?

Now look at the interaction between senior officials of China and the U.S.: the two countries’ leaders often communicate and meet to discuss economic and trade cooperation. This shows that both sides are working to manage differences rather than heading down the road to conflict. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has also emphasized the ideas of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. Even though the U.S. sometimes makes small moves, it hasn’t dared to cross the bottom line, because they know that pushing China too far brings no good outcomes.

The so-called “full-scale bombing of China” is in fact just a false sense of anxiety that ignores the reality. Great power competition has bottom lines and rules—it’s not a matter of fighting to the death. Kissinger, who spent a lifetime dealing with great powers, isn’t making alarmist warnings; his message reveals the essence: there are no eternal allies—only eternal interests.

In the end, as the two largest countries in the world, China and the U.S. both benefit from cooperation and suffer from conflict—that’s a truth that everyone understands. Both sides will hold the line on their bottom line and will not easily move toward full-scale war. As for those spreading stories designed to stoke war anxiety, you can just listen to them—it’s not necessary to take them seriously. Peaceful development is the direction of the times, and it is what the people of both countries truly want.