Xi Jinping sees Taiwan reunified

Dominique Moïsi, geopolitical analyst and author of the book Geopolitics of series or the global triumph of fear (Errata naturae), recalls that the television series that catapulted Netflix, House of Cards, captivated the Chinese political class for its corruptible traits. of its American pair that are exhibited throughout several seasons.

Fiction based on contemporary events, or not, but the level of astonishment and conviction of the Chinese society that could see the series through the sohu.com platform, about the level of corruption of the American political class, helped to consolidate the discourse of the Chinese government in public opinion.

“How dare the Americans lecture us on morality?”, writes Moïsi in a conjecture that emerges from Chinese public opinion about what is happening in the United States; The question would also be a kind of advertising phrase that Xi Jinping would choose to position the portrait of the United States in the minds of the Chinese population.

This week, President Xi Jinping’s speech, embedded in an imposing sounding board such as the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China, has Chinese society as its main addressee, but also the United States. You don’t have to read between the lines to spot what appears to be a rhetorical suit of clothing tailored to the White House.

This week has already been experienced by Xi Jinping on two occasions: two decades of ascent for the politician who has already governed for 10 years and who wishes to stay for at least another five years to consolidate the changes.

What the world sees this week is a kind of coronation of a king who has succeeded in expanding the Chinese brand around the world, and who has internally dismantled Hong Kong’s democratic system.

Xi Jinping does not think that the best foreign policy is the domestic one, for the president of China the best domestic policy is the foreign one. This was the general idea of ​​his opening speech at the 20th China Party Congress last Sunday.

After Taiwan became a kind of political resort for US politicians, including of course the visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Xi Jinping addressed realpolitik against the United States in his speech by saying that “ Taiwan is from China”; It will be patient and peaceful, but the war scenario does contemplate it. Beijing will never agree “to renounce the use of armed force,” he commented in a cathartic episode of his speech.

The planet lives with tension the wild pragmatism of the political class; reflection of a dangerous polarization planned by governments and operated by social networks.

Savage pragmatism has allowed for the blending of a Marxist party pursuing a liberal trade policy, and on Sunday the Chinese president recalled that the one he heads is the “biggest ruling Marxist party in the world.”

Wild pragmatism is also practiced by the United States. And it’s not an episode of House of Cards. President Joe Biden has changed his mind on Saudi Arabia three times in less than three years: he condemned the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on the orders of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman; he shook his fist with the prince’s and; now he cools the relationship due to the Saudi agreement with Russia within the framework of OPEC +.

Savage pragmatism has motivated Xi Jinping to advance the time of the assault on Hong Kong. It was time, and the pandemic helped him to cool down the temperature in the streets. Covid-zero, he calls the empty street strategy.

Taiwan Time

Three elements of his speech stand out in the 90 minutes that his message lasted: the violent scenario to reunify Taiwan is possible; international interaction is in its mature phase, and therefore China’s expansion will continue; and the management of the population during the pandemic has been strategic.

Xi Jinping used the outside world to justify mistakes in managing the economy during the mild phase of the pandemic, as being less deadly. “The world is once again at a historical crossroads” caused “by acts of hegemony, authoritarianism and bullying.”

What country or countries did President Xi Jinping have in mind when mentioning such acts?

A few months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a Taiwanese general revealed that China had a scenario in place for 2024: the reunification of Taiwan. Now, this scenario does not necessarily remain in force.

The vertices of Chinese geopolitics have shifted, particularly one of them: Europe. NATO is at war and the dead are put by Ukraine. The European Union (EU) is an important trading ally of China; Placing a curtain of sanctions does not benefit the Asian country at all, and in reciprocity, it does not benefit the EU either.

In the Great Hall of the People, the scene of the Congress, the applause of the 2,300 delegates who listened to their leader resounded. Those present were moved when they heard in the voice of Xi Jinping that “all necessary measures” will be applied to reunify Taiwan.

New order

China tries to be equidistant in the war from Russia, but the same position allows it to make decisions that favor Russia over the chessboard that President Putin is on against the United States.

China seeks allies to form a new international order. In the UN museum features of the prevailing order of the last century can already be observed.

House of Cards generated a certain spirit of revenge among the Chinese. There is no such thing as perfection in American politics, now Xi Jinping claims that he dismantled democracy in Hong Kong as an act of patriotism in the face of a group of foreign-motivated rioters.

Un gran storytelling.

fausto.pretelin@eleconomoista.mx