[The Epoch Times, November 20, 2022]On November 19, the CCP released the Chinese version of the “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Declaration (Summary)”, which deliberately deleted some content, which should have shocked the world again. The CCP failed to prevent these contents from appearing in the APEC “Joint Declaration” (2022 APEC Economic Leaders’ Declaration), so it deliberately manipulated it in the form of “summary”. On the same day, Xi Jinping and his party’s visit to Thailand ended hastily, and they returned to Beijing in a low-key manner. The reports of the party media were quite anticlimactic, and the trip failed to achieve the expected goal.
1. The CCP tampered with the wording of countries condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Article 2 of the English version of the APEC Joint Declaration stated: We witnessed the further adverse impact of the war in Ukraine on the global economy and discussed this issue. We reaffirm our position expressed in other forums, including the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolution ES-11/1 adopted by a majority vote on March 2, 2022 (141 in favour, 5 against, 35 abstentions, 12 votes absent).
The APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP did not state “our” common position, but stated that “we reaffirm the positions expressed by all parties on other occasions including the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.” The CCP has changed the common position of the leaders’ declarations into different positions expressed by all parties, and it seems that no consensus has been reached.
The CCP also deleted “We reiterated our position expressed in other forums” to cover up that the same position was just expressed at the previous G20 summit.
The English version of the APEC “Joint Declaration” also stated: “Condemns in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from Ukrainian territory.”
The APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP stated that it expresses the strongest “sorrow” over Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The CCP deliberately changed “condemn” to “deplore”.
The leaders of the Communist Party of China should have been worried about being isolated during the meeting, so they had no choice but to approve the APEC Joint Declaration, but after it was translated into Chinese, they changed the wording without authorization, and the meaning changed significantly. Such a serious international summit document, the CCP dared to release a different version on the day the APEC summit ended. The video of the dialogue between Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau during the G20 summit caused an uproar around the world; the CCP’s tampering with the content of the APEC declaration is even worse.
The CCP is still unwilling to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The CCP’s ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, once told an American TV host to “don’t be naive.” Now, the CCP does not want the Chinese people to see other countries condemn the war of aggression, and the “peace” that the CCP has repeatedly preached is completely bankrupt. If countries continue to allow CCP leaders to participate in international summits, allow CCP leaders to gain legitimacy, and expect CCP leaders to support universal values, it is indeed too “naive”.
2. The CCP dare not mention the fact that countries have emerged from the pandemic
Article 11 of the English version of the APEC Joint Declaration states: As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, we will further cooperate to facilitate safe and seamless cross-border travel within our region, including essential labor, air and Shipping personnel.
The APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP only stated that it has made important contributions to promoting personnel exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region.
The CCP’s deletion of the content of countries “coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic” should be directly related to the “clearing” epidemic prevention policy that the CCP is still implementing.
Xi Jinping’s speech released by the CCP stated that the world has “repeatedly delayed the epidemic”; this is obviously in stark contrast to countries “coming out of the pandemic”. The CCP claims that the prevention and control of the epidemic is leading the world, but the result is that mainland China has “repeatedly delayed the epidemic” and continues to “clear” the epidemic prevention.
Of course, the CCP knows that “clearing” has seriously hindered international exchanges, so it has to relax some restrictions; but the “seamless cross-border travel” proposed in the declaration may be difficult for the CCP to achieve. Not only are Chinese people unable to go abroad easily, but it is also not easy for foreigners to enter China, and they cannot adapt to the CCP’s extreme “clearing” closure measures.
3. The CCP deleted the expression about the supply chain
Article 12 of the English version of the APEC Joint Declaration states: We support efforts to foster open, secure and resilient supply chains, strengthen supply chain connectivity, and minimize supply chain disruptions. We encourage economies to continue their efforts to remove barriers to logistics-related services.
The APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP only stated: We will promote supply chain openness, security and resilience.
This article touches upon the pain point of the CCP. “Cultivating an open, secure and resilient supply chain” is the core of the US Indo-Pacific economic framework, which was jointly confirmed by all countries at the APEC summit. The current supply chain in mainland China will be transferred to other countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Of course, all countries welcome it, but the CCP is not willing. Therefore, the CCP deliberately changed “fostering an open, secure and resilient supply chain” to “promoting an open, secure and resilient supply chain”, completely changing the original meaning.
APEC is an economic cooperation organization. The transfer of supply chains is a core topic of this summit. Now it has been deliberately changed by the CCP. It dare not mention that countries quickly resume personnel exchanges after “coming out of the pandemic”. Then the APEC summit will What can we discuss?
If understood according to the APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP, the APEC meeting has also become a slogan-style CCP meeting, and it does not make much sense if it cannot be held.
4. The CCP avoids inefficient fossil fuel subsidies
Article 12 of the English version of the APEC Joint Declaration states: We recall our commitment to rationalize and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption.
The APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP only stated: reduce dependence on fossil energy.
The leaders of the Communist Party of China once again mentioned the so-called “2030 carbon peak” goal at the APEC meeting, but were unwilling to mention the “commitment to cancel inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.” The CCP may not have made such a promise, or may have made a false promise, but is simply unwilling to implement it. The CCP claims that China is the “world‘s factory”, but it has always been an economic development model with high energy consumption, low output, and damage to the environment, and it plans to continue until 2030.
The CCP has no intention of improving China’s long-standing environmental protection problems, let alone truly participating in international climate cooperation. The United States and the West have mentioned that one of the possible cooperation projects with the CCP is climate cooperation. Now the CCP’s attitude is clear at a glance, and countries are expected to be disappointed.
5. The CCP removed measures to combat illegal fishing
Article 14 of the English version of the APEC Joint Declaration states: We will continue to take concrete measures to implement the “APEC Roadmap to Fight Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing” and “APEC Roadmap to Marine Litter”.
The APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP completely deleted this article.
Large fishing fleets secretly supported by the CCP have appeared all over the world, and they often go fishing in the waters of other countries. The CCP’s practice of “draining the marshes for fishing” has already impoverished the waters around China, and many fishes have almost disappeared. Now it is “draining the marshes for fishing” all over the world, and many fleets still have blurred boundaries with the CCP’s maritime militia.
The CCP doesn’t care about such international rules, agreements, and declarations at all. The CCP is a typical breaker of international rules. The leaders of the CCP participate in such summits only to promote their own political image internally, and they don’t care about the responsibilities they should bear.
The CCP also did not mention the “APEC Marine Litter Roadmap”, and only said in general that it “addresses all environmental challenges” in an attempt to whet the appetite of countries for environmental protection cooperation. The heads of state and the leaders of the CCP sit together and have no common topic at all. They are actually seeking skins from tigers.
6. The CCP is worried about the reform of APEC
Article 21 of the English version of APEC’s “Joint Declaration” states: We will improve the governance and organizational structure of APEC to efficiently and effectively realize all elements of APEC Putrajaya’s 2040 vision, and deepen cooperation with stakeholders including ABAC and Contacts with international and regional organizations.
The APEC “Declaration (Summary)” issued by the CCP does not have this article at all. The CCP’s version is not a “Summary”, but arbitrarily cut. Members of the APEC organization should realize that the CCP is an alternative, and are preparing to make some reforms and strengthen cooperation with other organizations, which are estimated to be mainly developed economies such as the Group of Seven.
The CCP originally tried to manipulate APEC, hoping to turn it into a platform for confrontation with the United States. Now European countries are implementing the Indo-Pacific strategy. French President Macron also came to Thailand to communicate with APEC this time. After German Chancellor Schulz’s visit to China, he led business people to visit Southeast Asia. The influence of the CCP is rapidly declining. Of course, he did not want to mention the reforms of APEC, so he simply deleted it.
The “2022 APEC Leaders’ Declaration (Summary)” released by the CCP has translated most of the content in the English version, but deleted or altered sensitive content that the CCP does not want ordinary Chinese people to see. It can be seen that the leaders of the Communist Party of China did not get what they wanted to attend the summit.
Party media propaganda is anticlimactic
On November 19, Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi Jinping returned to Beijing after attending the G20 and APEC meetings. The Thai people and overseas Chinese sent off; but there was no mention of members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China lining up at Beijing Airport to welcome them. There were neither pictures nor videos in the report, and the CCTV report only had the announcer read the script.
The Xinhua News Agency commentary article said that Xi Jinping “pointed the direction for Asia-Pacific cooperation”, but the “2022 APEC Leaders’ Declaration (Summary)” released revealed the truth. The photos of Xi Jinping at the APEC summit that were distributed on the front pages of Xinhua News Agency and People’s Daily show a displeased face no matter how you look at it.
So much content that the CCP does not want to see appears in the APEC Joint Declaration, which shows that the CCP is unable to dominate the APEC meeting. US President Biden did not participate, and Vice President Harrison attended. However, the United States and its allies still dominate key issues.
Xinhua News Agency also claimed that Xi Jinping had concluded his visit to Thailand. In fact, on the day when the APEC meeting ended on November 19, Xi Jinping held talks with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, then went to the Thai palace to meet the King of Thailand, and then returned. In the more than one-minute video of CCTV reporting that Xi Jinping met with the King of Thailand, only a short shot showed the scene of the meeting, and most of the rest were exterior scenes of the Thai royal palace and streets. It is estimated that the Thai people’s protest against Xi Jinping himself made the CCP very unhappy, and it should also be dissatisfied that the Thai government did not forcefully suppress it.
The “2022 APEC Leaders’ Declaration (Summary)” released by the CCP differs greatly from the English version. Not only did the CCP leaders not gain anything from this trip, but they actually encountered a lot of ridicule. The propaganda of the CCP media is obviously not exciting. The revolving door-style bilateral meetings of the CCP leaders are more about making up lessons and exchanging pleasantries. A well-arranged political show failed to achieve what it wanted, but it further exposed the CCP’s isolation dilemma.
The leaders of the CCP were not happy, and the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee did not greet them with a high profile. The CCP’s black-box operations will not work internationally.
The Chinese people are not happy either, the supply chain is about to be evacuated in large numbers, and the “clearing” is endless. Of course, “life is hard.” The real reason why Chinese people are “difficult to live” is now becoming clearer. As long as the CCP regime is not removed, not only will life be “difficult” for the Chinese, but the risks faced by other countries are also obvious.
The Epoch Times
Editor in charge: Gao Yi