(Staff articles from the WASHINGTON POST & RT in June & July 2021.)
As military jets flew overhead and a large crowd
roared its approval, Mr. Xi boasted of the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese
nation”; he said China had “created a new model for human advancement” that it
intended to spread through the world, while raising its armed forces to
“world-class standards.”
In short, Mr. Xi made it clear that China under his dictatorial rule will present an escalating threat to the democratic world and to China’s neighbors — especially Taiwan, the capture of which he termed “a historic mission and an unshakable commitment.”
Former president
Donald Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, often managed to make it
look as if the United States were gratuitously raising tensions with China with
overheated rhetoric and a misguided trade war. Mr. Xi’s speech is a reminder
that his regime’s soaring ambitions, and its belligerence in pursuing them, are
a genuine threat to world order, and perhaps world peace.
The arrogance of
Mr. Xi’s rhetoric, laden with nationalist grievance, points to the origin of
the “wolf warrior” style recently adopted by Chinese diplomats. “We have never
bullied, oppressed or subjugated the people of any other country,” he insisted
— words that must have been greeted with pained disbelief in Tibet or the
Xinjiang region, where upward of a million Uyghurs and other Muslims have been
confined to concentration camps and coerced to abandon their culture.
Then came the emotional high point of the speech:
“We will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or subjugate us.” According
to the official English text distributed by the foreign ministry, Mr. Xi added,
“Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course
with a great wall of steel.” But those who listened heard him say opponents
would “have their heads bashed bloody.”
That evocation
of blood should be taken seriously when it comes to Taiwan. Mr. Xi, repeating a
stock phrase, said the aim was “peaceful national reunification,” but he
sounded more convincing in promising “resolute action to utterly defeat any
attempt toward ‘Taiwan independence’”— words that resonate with China’s recent
escalation of military incursions into Taiwan’s airspace.
Having
concentrated power and essentially declared himself a ruler-for-life, Mr. Xi
appears to regard the subjugation of what is now a robust democracy as a legacy
to aim for, along with the crushing of the Uyghurs and Hong Kong’s autonomy.
None of this
means the United States should seek confrontation with China. But Mr. Xi’s
words ought to underline that, at least under its present ruler, China will
likely pose a growing menace to its neighbors, to the democratic world and to
human freedom more generally.
Foreign Power Will Get Punched In The Nose
Following
British warship incident, Moscow warns next foreign power to violate Black Sea
borders ‘will get a punch in the nose’: Provocateurs who play games in the
Black Sea risk “getting punched in the nose.” That’s according to Russia’s
deputy foreign minister, who has called on foreign ships to respect the
country’s borders or face severe consequences.
Speaking to the
Moscow's International Affairs news outlet on Tuesday, Sergey Ryabkov was
referring to last month’s incident involving the British destroyer HMS
Defender, which violated Russia’s maritime borders near Crimea.
The senior
official stressed that the Black Sea was not a place where “games are allowed,”
noting that such incursions across the Russian border could increase the risk
of conflict in the region.
“The
provocateurs must be treated very directly and objectively,” Ryabkov continued.
“It must be explained to them why, next time, they’d be better off leaving
their provocations aside and not coming here, because they will get a punch in
the nose.”
Ryabkov’s
comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident
with the British ship as a blatant provocation carried out with the United
States’ participation. However, he also noted that he did not think the world
was on the brink of World War III, claiming that a large-scale conflict would
not have started even if the Russian side had sunk the destroyer.
On June 23, the British warship HMS Defender purposely violated Russia’s territorial waters, crossing three kilometers (two miles) over the border. While Moscow described the incident as breaking international law, London said the boat had passed peacefully through Ukrainian waters. Following the incident, the British ambassador in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday Russia would “knock the teeth out”
of everyone who tries to take a “bite” out of his country’s vast territory.
“Everyone wants to bite us somewhere or to bite off
something from us. But they — those who are going to do it — should know that
we will knock their teeth out so that they cannot bite. This is quite obvious,
and the key to this is the development of our armed forces,” Putin said during
a televised virtual meeting of Russia’s National Security Council on May 20.
He added, “But
we need it, our people need it, the citizens of the Russian federation [need
it]. We will do everything not only to preserve it, but also to consolidate and
strengthen it.”
“Putin also said
that Western sanctions against Russia are continuing a longtime historic trend
of containing a powerful rival and alleged that some critics of Moscow whom he
didn’t name have argued that it’s unfair for Russia to keep its vast natural riches
all to itself,” according to the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (RFE/RL).
“Even after we
lost one-third of our potential, Russia is still too big for some,” Putin said,
referring to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which saw former Soviet
republics gain independence.
Western countries, including the U.S. and European Union (E.U.) member states, have regularly imposed and extended sanctions on Russia for the past six years. Reasons for the sanctions include Russia’s colonization of Crimea out of Ukraine in 2014 and a long list of human rights abuses against its own people.
In April, Washington announced a wide range of sanctions against Moscow for its alleged “harmful foreign activities,” including its “ongoing occupation and repression in Crimea.” Putin’s remarks on Thursday came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke at an Arctic Council meeting in Reykjavik, which Russia chaired this year.
