Chinese President Xi Jinping. Credit Damir Sagolj/Reuters
The Economist: Xi Jinping has more clout than Donald Trump. The world should be wary
Do not expect Mr Xi to change China, or the world, for the better.
AMERICAN presidents have a habit of describing their Chinese counterparts in terms of awe. A fawning Richard Nixon said to Mao Zedong that the chairman’s writings had “changed the world”. To Jimmy Carter, Deng Xiaoping was a string of flattering adjectives: “smart, tough, intelligent, frank, courageous, personable, self-assured, friendly”. Bill Clinton described China’s then president, Jiang Zemin, as a “visionary” and “a man of extraordinary intellect”. Donald Trump is no less wowed. The Washington Post quotes him as saying that China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, is “probably the most powerful” China has had in a century.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: I would not say that he is the world's most powerful leader .... no one has really had that title for a long time. But I sense that President Xi wishes he was.
1 comment:
It's easy to look good in a country that doesn't allow criticism of its leaders. Of course you look mighty smart if everyone who speaks out against you finds himself abducted (just ask the book sellers in Hong Kong - oh no, right, months after they showed up they were all clear about their mistakes..and saw the true light). We should be very very concerned, that a country with about 15% of the entire population on this planet gets to live under different rules (good and bad ones) than we.
Chinese business men can pretty much extort their Western counterparts, and not only don't have to fear any problems doing that, but they often even get help by a Chinese government official, coming in to teach them how to do it, what to say etc. That's why all our companies (Twitter, Google, Facebook etc) fall in line - they don't know what to do. Our politicians don't do anything, and our companies don't dare to speak out, otherwise they not only cannot access the Chinese market now, but for maybe years to come.. every one of those companies is blocked from a market with more than 1.5bn people. It's just not right.
How our companies react to China reminds me of the Weinstein scandal. Everyone in Hollywood knew this is going on. Nobody dared to speak out because otherwise you get singled out and lose access to the market (Hollywood, or in this case China).
I'm so sick of Chinese businesses being allowed to operate under different standards and rules than the rest of the world. We are literally being robbed every single day and bleeding by the billions. But who will come out to speak first? Who will stand up to this Chinese governmental sanctioned, worldwide bullying, industrial (and military, of course) espionage, threats, abductions?
Post a Comment