News Analysis
Chinese leader Xi Jinping gave a speech at a conference in China on Oct. 25 to mark the 50th anniversary of the admittance of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the United Nations.
The speech was directed at U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres who attended the conference virtually, as Xi has not traveled outside the PRC for over 21 months.
In the run-up to that speech and afterward, state-run Chinese media—such as Xinhua, Global Times, China Daily, and People’s Daily—gushed with laudatory headlines:
- “50 years on, China remains committed to advancing UN cause”
- “China wins increasing support at UN during 50 yrs, opposing unilateralism, protectionism and hegemony”
- “Xi pledges sustained Chinese support for UN, multilateralism”
- “Xi hails restoration of PRC’s rights in UN 50 years ago”
- “Support UN’s leading role, safeguard multilateralism”
- “UN should remain core of global governance”
- “Restoration of China’s lawful seat in the UN inspires African countries, says Congolese senior editor”
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres (left) shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the welcome ceremony for the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on May 15, 2017. Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool/Getty Images
Xi’s Message
What are the messages that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to convey to the world vis-à-vis the PRC and the U.N.?The agitprop narrative includes the following points that are endlessly repeated by Xi, Chinese diplomats, and Chinese state-run media:
- The legitimacy of the CCP and the PRC
- Multilateralism is the future for mankind
- Poverty eradication through “sustainable development”
- Win-win cooperation in a “shared future”
- World peace
- A bright future under Chinese leadership
- “[Admission to the U.N. was] a victory for the Chinese people and a victory for people of the world”—the legitimacy card played at the expense of the people of Taiwan, Tibet, and East Turkestan.
- “[We are] securing a historic success in eradicating absolute poverty”—claims of poverty eradication about which rural Chinese and others may disagree.
- “[China has] upheld international equity and justice, contributing significantly to world peace”—at the expense of Tibetan, Uyghur, and Falun Gong genocide.
- “[China is] committed to achieving common development”—a euphemism that masks Chinese mercantilism and debt-trap diplomacy.
- “We have done what we could to help other developing countries”—CCP “benevolence” always has a cost and price tag.
- “The Chinese people … have practiced multilateralism”—through CCP leadership, of course; how has “Chinese multilateralism” worked out in the South China Sea and Tibet?
- “[China has] taken the lead in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”—a Marxist euphemism that means a managed economy under socialism, as opposed to a Western-style market economy.
- “[China has] earnestly applied the universality of human rights in the Chinese context”—the “Chinese context” apparently includes genocide of Uyghurs, Tibetans, Falun Gong, and other minorities.
- “[China has] blazed a path of human rights development that is consistent with the trend of the times and carries distinct Chinese features”—as if the preceding statement wasn’t enough, Xi subtly reemphasized that concentration camps for minorities—and maybe even for the unvaccinated—are “consistent with the trend of the times.”
- “[We] should vigorously advocate peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom”—the CCP supports “whole democracy,” which is a cover for authoritarian rule; the millions of Chinese persecuted and killed by the CCP during the Cultural Revolution and other pogroms could not be reached for comment.
- “No civilization in the world is superior to others; every civilization is special and unique to its own region”—this is a direct attack on American world leadership and exceptionalism, as previously discussed here.
- “[We] should jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind”—another tired Marxist euphemism and platitude signifying nothing; everyone still living “shares the future” with everyone else!
- “[We should] pursue common development in harmony”—the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative hub-and-spokes model is nothing but a debt trap for participants on the road to becoming a Chinese vassal state.
- “To build a community with a shared future for mankind is not to replace one system or civilization with another”—utter nonsense; if Xi truly meant that, he would immediately halt the United Front Work Department and general CCP support for the Chinese Progressive Association, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and other pro-Chinese communist organizations in the United States that are funding Black Lives Matter and other Marxist movements seeking to overthrow the U.S. Constitution.
- “We should stay committed to mutual benefit and win-win results”—there’s that “win-win” platitude that was probably poll-tested for favorability purposes in the United States.
- “We need to encourage green recovery, green production and green consumption”—no reasons given; all the benefit of the Chinese economy, which is the world’s leading supplier of lithium batteries, solar panels, and other “green products.”
- “Countries should uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core”—meanwhile, China is subverting/corrupting the U.N. in order to exert control; does Xi support the U.N.’s Agenda 21 globalism?
The CCP’s Motives
The motives of Xi and the CCP are transparent.First and foremost is their insatiable desire to confer legitimacy on the Communist Party and the PRC. This is especially important for the Chinese domestic audience, as the CCP maintains control of the Chinese government through force, not through the will of its people via democratic elections. Foreign recognition of the PRC reinforces that the Chinese regime is “legitimate” in the eyes of the world, and by extension should be supported by the Chinese people at all times and in all places. That is the reason for the CCP stressing the “lawful restoration of the PRC’s rights” through U.N. recognition 50 years ago.
Secondly, the CCP seeks to leverage that conferred legitimacy in their strategy to achieve geopolitical and economic domination of the world, with the U.N. being one of the instruments to be exploited for that purpose. CCP subversion of the U.N. since 1951 has played an important psychological and propaganda role in reshaping world opinion about the United States, which includes the following examples: the subversion of the “non-aligned movement” (which now supports many of the CCP platitudes contained in Xi’s speech); the World Health Organization’s role in being complicit in China’s coverup of COVID-19; and the continuing penchant for “multilateralism”—with the PRC’s support for the latter “confirmed” just this past Monday by Abdulla Shahid, the president of the U.N. General Assembly. Shahid also confirmed the PRC’s successful subversion of the U.N. in making that remark! Xi’s speech on Monday was a continuation of that psychological warfare through an offer of Chinese leadership in all future endeavors “for the benefit of mankind” in a “shared future” dominated by the CCP.
Conclusion
CCP legitimacy, as conferred when the PRC was admitted to the U.N., is a precious commodity continually sought by Xi Jinping and his underlings. Monday’s speech commemorating the PRC’s admission to the U.N. in 1951 was the latest attempt at reinforcing that legitimacy. The other purpose of Xi’s speech was to continue the psychological warfare against the United States in the CCP’s pursuit of world economic and geopolitical domination. What better (virtual) venue for the speech than the U.N., which has become a de facto instrument of CCP policy? That commemorative speech was unusual. What other countries celebrate the anniversaries of their entrance to the U.N. with major speeches by their respective leaders? If anything, many Americans would celebrate the United States leaving the U.N. if that day ever comes.Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
