It sounded like a spoiled brat being tutored into good behavior. No surprises when President Xi Jinping began delivering his speech (May 14) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing – all wrapped in the typical Chinese Confucian philosophy.
“China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. We should be partners, not rivals. We should help each other succeed and prosper together, Xi said to his US counterpart, Donald Trump, seated across the table in the Great Hall.
President Xi Jinping’s Opening speech in a meeting with U.S. President Trump at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, May 14
Xi’s advice centred on cooperation based on common interests without directly naming Trump; the two countries have more common interests than differences, success in one is an opportunity for the other, and a stable bilateral relationship is good for the world. Xi said as an absorbed Trump listened on.
Underlining the fluid and turbulent international situation and drawing on mythology, the Chinese President called for closing ranks to deal with the challenges that are currently threatening global peace.
“Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major-country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide greater stability for the world? Can we build a bright future together for our bilateral relations in the interests of the well-being of the two peoples and the future of humanity? These are the questions vital to history, to the world and to the people. They are the questions of our times that the leaders of major countries need to answer together,” Xi said
The reference to Thucydides Trap couldn’t have been more appropriate to the context of successive US administrations’ (including Joe Biden and Trump) stated resolve to contain “the challenge of an ascendent China accompanied by warnings from prominent US strategists/economists – including David Wolf, John Mehrsheimer,and Jeffrey Sachs Columbia University reckon that the American Empire is declining and should look out cooperation with China than a confrontationist path.
In a veiled reference to Trump’s whimsical and aggressive policy posturing, Xi said China and the United States were best placed to lead and nudge major countries to get along well with each other in the new era
