There is now a global awakening to the fact that China is intentionally increasing geopolitical tensions in Taiwan and Ukraine.  The free world has realized Communist China, which Xi Jinping has molded into a totalitarian regime, is upending the free, open and rules-based international order that has ensured prosperity and stability for decades.  Xi the dictator seeks to desensitize the world to China’s belligerent behavior and action, and to redefine a new world order in his image.

Xi has vowed to take Taiwan by force, if necessary.  The military action and propaganda against Taiwan, an independent country which is never ruled by China, has been ongoing for decades but are ratcheted up since U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on August 2, sparking off the fourth Taiwan Strait crisis.  China conducted live fire exercises across the Taiwan Strait, repeatedly sent warplanes across the median line and, for the first time, launched ballistic missiles over Taiwan and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, China did not condemn Putin, has echoed and amplified Russia’s disinformation campaigns, has censored the word “invasion” and instead used “Ukraine issue” and “special military operations” to describe Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion.  

China has gone to great length to appear neutral but Xi Jinping has openly said the relationship with Russia is “without limits” and showed openness to provide Russia with requested military and financial aid.  On September 9, Xi’s personal envoy and a high-ranking official, Li Zhanshu, met with Russian leaders in Moscow and said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “necessity” and emphasized “we are providing our assistance”.

Li assured Russia that “China understands and supports Russia on issues that represent its vital interests, in particular on the situation in Ukraine”.  On September 15, Xi met with Putin in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperating Organization summit, and vowed support for Russia’s “core interests”.  

China is irresponsible and dangerous

China’s reckless military escalation in the Taiwan Strait and steadfast support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are irresponsible and dangerous, and contribute to global economic turmoil, at a time when the global economy has barely recovered from a rout brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Lest the world forgets, Covid-19 spread to all over the world from the Chinese city of Wuhan because initially, China engaged in disinformation and propaganda to obscure the origins and seriousness of the virus.    

Xi and his senior military officers have repeatedly used the threat of war to bring self-governing Taiwan under its control.  Xi, who wanted China, a global superpower with the second largest economy, to play a bigger role in world affairs, should not be making this kind of irresponsible comment about the use of war or the possibility of the need to go to war.

War brings untold misery, countless deaths and immeasurable damage to human progress.  China’s actions directly increased the risk of an all-out war in Taiwan, which will draw in the U.S. and its allies to defend Taiwan, which may have the potential to start another world war.  

Putin is a war criminal and there are now many documented cases of war crimes committed by his soldiers against Ukrainian civilians.  Putin’s war has also directly given rise to the global energy and food crises, and to high inflation worldwide.  By supporting Putin, Xi is prolonging human suffering as well as inflicting deadly wounds to the global economy.

Additionally, in recent years, Xi has sought to use China’s economic influence to force smaller countries into acquiescence, through trade tariffs, bans, boycotts and other coercive trade practice to achieve political objectives.  

Likewise, Xi has used the Belt and Road Initiative to exert leverage over indebted countries to secure political support within multilateral institutions like the UN, WTO and WHO, among others.  Such heavy-handed tactics are unacceptable and has no place in a rules-based international order.

Xi’s miscalculations

Xi’s calculus about the rise of the east and decline of the west is proven wrong with the strong and unwavering support given to Taiwan and Ukraine from the west, including Japan.  By now, Xi should realize the free world does not compromised when their national interest, economy, ideology, and universal values are threatened by China.

Xi’s serious miscalculations in challenging the free world, his trigger of the fourth Taiwan Strait crisis and his support for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine have cataclysmic consequences for the world, and for China as he has single-handedly turned himself and the Communist Party of China the common enemy of the people.  

Xi is a ruthless dictator who believes his time has come, and he is steering China towards a collision course with the free world.  Under Xi’s watch, the Chinese economy is facing self-inflicted crisis one after another, and has gradually lost the attractiveness for global CEOs and investors.  His wolf warrior diplomacy has made the international community more wary of China.  The threat from China is real and it is important to see Xi for what he really is.

Photo credit: iStock/ Tomwang112