‘US does not represent world opinion’— China

THE ‘strategic dialogue’ between the imperialist United States and the People’s Republic of China held in Anchorage, Alaska, was off to a very bad start last March 18, 2021, with new US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and new US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan informing the Chinese delegation that for the imperialist Americans, the purpose of the 2-day talks is to use diplomacy “to advance the interests of the United States and to strengthen the rules-based international order.”

The text of the actual exchange of words by both sides was released to the international media by the US State Department (equivalent to the Department of Foreign Affairs) and by the Associated Press (AP) hours after both sides’ heated exchange of words.

The meeting was a result of the telephone discussion between new US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping that Biden made last February 11, 2021, the eve of the Chinese Lunar Year. It was also their latest talk since Biden, as vice president to Barak Obama, visited Beijing in 2013.

The Chinese delegation was headed by Yang Jiechi, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, Communist Party of China and, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The US position

Aside from blatantly telling the Chinese that their discussion is all about promoting and protecting America’s self-interests and that of its so-called “allies,” Blinken also immediately went on to interfere with China’s internal affairs and its sovereignty by claiming “deep concern” on China’s policies with respect to Xinjiang, Hongkong and Taiwan, which are all integral parts of the territories of China.

Blinken also accused China of launching “cyberattacks on the United States and economic coercion towards our allies.”

“Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability. That’s why they’re not merely internal matters and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today,” Blinken added.

Blinken also claimed that the US position and views in Asia are shared by its surrogate states, Japan and South Korea.

“They were very interested in the discussions that we’ll have here today and tomorrow because the issues that we’ll raise are relevant not only to China and the United States, but to others across the region and indeed around the world,” the official averred.

Blinken also tried to bully China early, telling the Chinese delegation that under the Democrats, China should expect the same bullying it got from the Republicans under Donald Trump, stressing that if the US relationship with China should turn adversarial, then so be it.

“I said that the United States’ relationship with China will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be.

“Our discussions here in Alaska, I suspect, will run the gamut. Our intent is to be direct about our concerns, direct about our priorities, with the goal of a more clear-eyed relationship between our countries moving forward.”

Aside from giving fulsome praise to the purported “great strides” of the less than 2-months old Biden administration in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, the “rescue” of the US economy and “the strength and staying power of (American) democracy,” Sullivan also told the Chinese that the discussion would “cover many of the areas of concern, from economic and military coercion to assaults on basic values (all directed against China).”

Sullivan also claimed the issues they are raising “are on the minds of the American people,” and also in the minds of “our allies and partners.”

Emphasizing again that self-interest is at the core of US foreign policy under Biden, Sullivan added to the bellicose tone of Blinken, saying:

“We’ll make clear today that our overriding priority from the United States’ side is to ensure that our approach in the world and our approach to China benefits the American people and protects the interests of our allies and partners.

“We do not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people and for our friends.”

‘US does not represent world opinion’– China

Apparently stung by the bad behavior displayed by the two top US officials, both Yang and Foreign Minister Wang, also immediately fought back with harsh criticisms of US foreign policy and the gross violation of human rights in America fueled by racism.

After summarizing the important events in China, from the conclusion of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the success of China’s ‘5-Year Plan’ since 1952 that resulted to the achievement of China’s first centenary vision of achieving a “moderately prosperous society in all respects,” success in beating back the pandemic and eliminating absolute poverty in China covering its 1.4 billion population, Yang reminded the US that “the Chinese people are wholly rallying around the Communist Party of China” over these successes.

Yang also reminded Blinken and Sullivan that the “basic values” that the CPC and the Chinese people upholds are the “common values of humanity. Those are: peace, development, fairness, justice, freedom and democracy.”

Yang also lectured the Americans that, like China and the rest of the international community, it should “follow or uphold” the “United Nations-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, not what is advocated by a small number of countries of the so-called rules-based international order.”

“And the United States has its style — United States-style democracy — and China has the Chinese-style democracy.

“It is not just up to the American people, but also the people of the world, to evaluate how the United States has done in advancing its own democracy.

“In China’s case, after decades of reform and opening up, we have come a long way in various fields. In particular, we have engaged in tireless efforts to contribute to the peace and development of the world, and to upholding the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter,”  Yang said.

Yang also assailed the war-like and aggressive policies of the United States that resulted in “massive casualties.”

“But for China, what we have asked for, for other countries, is to follow a path of peaceful development, and this is the purpose of our foreign policy,” Yang stressed.

“We do not believe in invading through the use of force, or to topple other regimes through various means, or to massacre the people of other countries, because all of those would only cause turmoil and instability in this world,” Yang declared further, in obvious reference to US Imperialism’s aggressions in many parts of the world.

“And at the end of the day,” Yang noted, “all of those would not serve the United States well.”

Yang also called on the US “to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world,” noting that even among Americans, many “actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States, and they have various views regarding the government of the United States.”

Yang also lectured the Americans that, like China and the rest of the international community, it should “follow or uphold” the “United Nations-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, not what is advocated by a small number of countries of the so-called rules-based international order.”

In contrast, Yang added further, “the leaders of China have the wide support of the Chinese people,” as shown even in US opinion polls, declaring further, “No attempt to smear China’s social system would get anywhere. Facts have shown that such practices would only lead the Chinese people to rally more closely around the Communist Party of China and work steadily towards the goals that we have set for ourselves.”

Yang also urged the US to “abandon the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game approach,” it has been pursuing as part of its foreign policy.

He also echoed the position of Pres. Xi Jinping in dealing with the US, which is “no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.”

Nevertheless, Yang also stressed that the issues over Xinjiang, Tiber and Taiwan are domestic affairs of the Chinese people.

“And with Xinjiang, Tibet and Taiwan, they are an inalienable part of China’s territory. China is firmly opposed to U.S. interference in China’s internal affairs.

“We have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference, and we will take firm actions in response,” the CPC official said.

Yang also dismissed US claims of “cyberattacks” from China, pointing out that in terms of technologies that could be deployed, “the United States is the champion in this regard. You can’t blame this problem on somebody else.”

Yang ended his tirade by bluntly telling the US side that, “the United States itself does not represent international public opinion, and neither does the Western world…the Western world does not represent the global public opinion.”

“So, we hope that when talking about universal values or international public opinion on the part of the United States, we hope the U.S. side will think about whether it feels reassured in saying those things, because the U.S. does not represent the world.

“It only represents the government of the United States,” Yang concluded.