[The Epoch Times, February 22, 2022]On February 19, Wang Yi’s video speech at the Munich Security Conference seemed to be down-voted. On February 4, the day of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, after Xi Jinping and Putin met, the Sino-Russian joint statement pointed directly at NATO, which was equivalent to a gauntlet against the United States and the West. Did the CCP really go back on it two weeks later?
On February 16, Xi Jinping had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, and tried to repair relations with Europe, but the French statement said, “continue to rebalance the relationship between Europe and China”, which is in stark contrast to the “comprehensive strategic partnership” that the CCP calls.
The CCP follows Russia to “oppose NATO”, but expects to develop a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Europe, which is really illogical. Seeing that the CCP is playing with fire out of control, Wang Yi’s speech may want to put out the fire; however, the fire that the CCP is burning is not easy to put out. Wang Yi seems to have softened on the surface, but he has no intention of actually withdrawing the fire. The CCP media leaked a new round of misjudgment.
Did Wang Yi really drop the tone?
Wang Yi said at the beginning of his video speech at the Munich Security Conference that the focus of this year is “powerlessness”, which “reflects the deep confusion of countries about the status quo and general concerns about the future.”
On February 14, the official website of the Munich Security Conference released the “Munich Security Report 2022: Turning the Tide – Unlearning Helplessness” (Munich Security Report 2022: Turning the Tide – Unlearning Helplessness). The report explores the “collective sense of helplessness” that emerges in the face of numerous global challenges, including the “seemingly never-ending coronavirus pandemic”, the “growing threat of climate change”, the “troubling fragility of an interconnected world” Sex”, “Escalating Geopolitical Tensions”, “Generally Feeling Helpless in the Face of Imminent Threats”. The report argues that “while the challenges are real, the tools and resources needed to address them are actually available” and that transatlantic leaders “have an opportunity to turn things around.”
The Munich Security Conference discussed how to “turn the situation around”, but Wang Yi secretly changed the concept, changing the “feeling of helplessness” of people in the face of numerous crises to “feeling of powerlessness”. Is this just a simple word game?
Wang Yi admitted that “the world is indeed facing the risk of division and confrontation again”, but blaming “individual major powers” is “creating camp confrontation”, “decoupling and building walls”, and repeating the old tune of “multilateralism”.
The White House has just released the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, which explicitly excludes the participation of the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP should know that it is meaningless to call “multilateralism” against the United States. Therefore, Wang Yi called for “China and the EU must play a role” and “hold the position of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, and not be shaken by a momentary incident.”
After the CCP has turned China-US relations into confrontation, if it turns China-Europe relations into confrontation again, the CCP’s international space will be even smaller. Wang Yi tried to restore China-EU relations and hoped to “seek common ground while reserving differences”, but Wang Yi also showed the bottom line, that is, the so-called “non-interference in internal affairs”.
During the phone call between Xi Jinping and Macron on February 16, Macron proposed to “encourage China to lift sanctions on Lithuania and make China’s demands through dialogue”, and “specially mentioned forced labor and expressed concern about the situation in Xinjiang”; also reminded Xi Jinping ” The impact of the health measures taken in China on the French and Chinese communities”. These are all omitted by Xinhua News Agency and should all belong to what Wang Yi calls “non-interference in internal affairs”.
Wang Yi’s call for China-EU cooperation does not actually mean softening, but to get rid of the “feeling of helplessness” and deliberately call it “powerless” to discuss the European report. What does it mean?
Party media revealed a major misjudgment by the CCP
On February 17, the Xinhua News Agency reported “The Munich Security Conference: The world faces multiple challenges and the West laments “collective helplessness”. The article stated that the theme of the Munich Security Conference from the 18th to the 20th was “Get rid of the sense of helplessness” and “find solutions to multiple crises and challenges such as geopolitical security, global public health, and high-tech industrial chains.”
The article quoted an “expert” to analyze that Europe’s “influence on the international stage has dropped significantly”. The article also said that Russian officials would not participate in this year’s meeting, citing “analysts” as saying that the Ukraine issue is difficult to resolve and Europe’s “feeling of helplessness” in terms of strategic security will only increase unabated.
Xinhua News Agency, before the Munich Security Conference, believed that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis made Europe “incapable” to deal with it, and its “influence on the international stage has dropped significantly”.
After the Munich Security Conference, on February 21, Xinhua News Agency published a special article: Munich Security Conference failed and the West was unable to do what it wanted. The article said, “The Russian government did not send a delegation to attend the meeting, and the meeting failed to provide any cure for the Ukrainian issue, which just confirmed the theme of this year’s meeting – ‘helplessness'”.
The article asserts that “the world today faces a variety of pressing global challenges that the West cannot deal with alone.”
Xinhua News Agency’s special article timely echoed Wang Yi’s remarks. The article also took the “2022 Munich Security Report” out of context, finding that “under the influence of multiple crises and challenges, Western countries feel powerless, lose control and determination, and believe that they are powerless to change the current predicament.”
The article quoted “analysts” as saying that “a West with insufficient strength and a common position can neither represent the world nor deal with global crises and challenges alone”; A new path”, that is “multilateralism”.
The articles of Xinhua News Agency before and after the Munich Security Conference are naturally not nonsense by Hu Xijin and others, but should be deliberately let loose by the high level of the CCP. A Russian-Ukrainian crisis probably caused a major misjudgment at the top of the CCP. They felt that the West was no longer able to deal with it, and the CCP had another chance.
Wang Yi also said in his speech that “in the face of the turbulent international situation”, to build “a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation”, “the most urgent task is to adhere to openness without isolation, integration without decoupling”, and to dismantle the “small”. High Court Wall”.
The CCP clearly believes that Russia has caused enough trouble for the United States and Europe that the West can only turn to seek cooperation with the CCP.
The conclusion reached by the seven standing committee members in stealth discussions?
After the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the Seventh Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China was invisible for a time. The outside world believed that they discussed behind closed doors how to deal with the crisis in Russia and Ukraine and how to handle relations with Europe. Wang Yi’s speech was regarded by the outside world as a signal of softening, and it was also regarded as a compromise solution after discussions by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China.
Wang Yi’s words did not have too many wolf-fighting attitudes, which led the outside world to misunderstand that the CCP seems to be softening. However, if you look closely at what Wang Yi said about the “powerlessness” of various countries, and the articles carefully arranged by Xinhua News Agency, they actually represent the high level of the CCP. Another miscalculation. Of course, it is also possible that the Politburo Standing Committee did not reach a consensus, but the Xinhua News Agency followed the highest opinion and deliberately let it out.
In Wang Yi’s speech published by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is no word “opposition to NATO”, and it even said that it “adheres to political solutions to various regional hotspot issues”, but also said, “One country’s security cannot be at the expense of compromising the security of other countries.” , regional security cannot be guaranteed by strengthening military blocs.”
At the press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 21, spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “State Councilor Wang Yi also clarified China’s position on the issue of NATO’s eastward expansion during the Munich Security Conference.” adjustment is necessary”.
It can be seen that the position of the CCP has not really changed. It is just that Russia is at the forefront of confrontation with the United States and Europe, and the CCP is taking advantage of the situation to hide. The CCP concluded that Europe was “incapable” of coping with it, and did not withdraw its “opposition to NATO” statement. Not only did it want Europe to swallow it hard, but it could only cooperate with the CCP.
It is difficult to confirm whether the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China has reached a consensus on this judgment, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party media have clearly made such a gesture.
The CCP media only mentioned the “Munich Security Report 2022: Turning Things Around – Forgetting Helplessness”, but did not mention another report under this report, “Mind the Gap: Priorities for Transatlantic China Policy” (Mind the Gap: Priorities for Transatlantic China Policy). The mid-2021 report proposes seven issue areas ranging from economics, values to security, arguing that in the face of challenges from the CCP, “democracies in Europe and North America must join forces to defend and advance their interests and values”, Priorities include “enhancing economic security,” “fighting for technological leadership,” “setting the agenda of international institutions,” “preserving free societies and promoting human rights,” and “maintaining the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.”
It can be seen that the CCP’s misjudgment again is wishful thinking, and it has once again exposed the CCP’s ignorance of international diplomacy.
A repeat of “rising in the east and descending in the west”?
At the press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 21, spokesman Wang Wenbin also said, “50 years ago, when President Nixon visited China, China and the United States achieved a historic handshake, ending the long-term isolation between the two countries.” Together, we will draw experience and wisdom from the past 50 years of history” and “Sino-US relations have returned to the track of healthy and stable development.”
The CCP media did not immediately reprint the report, not even mentioning the 50th anniversary of Nixon’s visit to China on February 21, 1972. This shows that the CCP also knows that it seems a bit far-fetched to expect a crisis in Russia and Ukraine to bring China and the United States back together.
Back then, when the United States extended an olive branch to the CCP, it was a strategy to unite small evils to control great evils. At that time, China and the Soviet Union were at odds and on the brink of war. The United States actually turned against the CCP from the communist camp. The leaders of the CCP were afraid that the former Soviet Union would launch a nuclear war and lose their lives. Immediately back to America. Today, the CCP is imitating the former Soviet Union to compete with the United States for hegemony, and the Biden administration has also defined the CCP as its biggest rival. The U.S. military is always ready to counter the CCP’s military attack on Taiwan, but has no intention of directly intervening in the possible Russian-Ukrainian war. Russia covets the territory and population of the former Soviet republic, but knows that it does not have the strength to compete for world hegemony, and probably wants to take advantage of the confrontation between China and the United States to make more money.
For the Winter Olympics and to reduce its own pressure, the CCP desperately pushes Russia against the United States and the West, and does not hesitate to play with Europe. Now it seems that it is going to put out the fire. However, the CCP regime, which has always feared that the world will not be in chaos, should hope that Russia will continue to burn the fire, making the United States and Europe “powerless” to deal with it. Although CCP leaders are also afraid of burning themselves, they may feel that they have found an opportunity to turn around, or at least try to create such public opinion.
In 2021, the reality of Sino-U.S. relations makes “the east rises and the west falls” a joke. A Russian-Ukrainian crisis has made Europe tense. The CCP deliberately fuels the flames and ridicules Europe for its “powerlessness.” Will China-Europe relations in 2022 repeat the story of “rising in the east and falling in the west”?
The Epoch Times premieres
Responsible editor: Gao Yi#