Words, they say, have the potency to build and destroy. More so on the international scene where dialogue and diplomacy are intertwined, a leader’s statement, regardless of how nuanced it may be, iterates not only his stance but that of his nation as well.
A President can capture or rupture hearts of fellow counterparts with their remarks. When a heart is captured, healthy ties, cooperation and development are sure to ensue. Invariably, when a heart is in as little as bruised, strained ties, isolation from allies and in extreme cases war becomes the aftermath.
Last week, U.S President, made remarks that opened a new rift in his country’s relation with China. Mind you, ties between U.S and China have been strained over Washington’s military support and sales of defensive weapons to self-governing Taiwan, China’s assertions of sovereignty to the contested South China Sea and its flying of a suspected spy balloon over the U.S. The balloon was shot down and it increased the friction between both countries.
Recently, China declined a U.S invitation for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore.
In a bid to salvage the situation and improve their ties, U.S Secretary of State, Antony Blinken made a long-anticipated visit to China. Even though U.S from the onset stated that the visit is not anticipated to yield tangible results, it was perceived by most people as a step in the right direction.
Just a day after Blinken concluded the visit to Beijing, Biden knowingly or unknowingly nullified any impact that Blinken’s visit would have made, as he likened the Chinese leader to a dictator.
China, as expected, reacted to Biden’s remarks. Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson, criticized Biden’s remarks. To drive the message home, Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng issued a statement that signaled a formal protest to the remarks. The double criticism clearly indicates that Beijing has been greatly irked.
The statement noted that Washington “should take earnest actions to undo the negative impact” of what Biden said or “bear all the consequences.” “The Chinese government and people do not accept any political provocation against China’s top leader and will resolutely respond,” it added.
Now, China is known for employing measures ranging from severing diplomatic ties to staging military maneuvers off Taiwan to show its displeasure. In April, China sent warships and dozens of fighter jets toward Taiwan in retaliation of a meeting between the U.S. Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President, Tsai Ing-wen.
It remains to be seen what Beijing will do, however maintaining the break in military communication is a given. Beijing suspended formal military-to-military meetings last August following then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
The Absolute Question
The question is, is Xi a dictator? Well, China is regarded as a one-party communist state where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a monopoly of power. This means that, it is the Communist Party which makes decisions for the country. Article 1 of the Constitution describes China as “a socialist state under the people’s democratic dictatorship.”
Xi is the absolute leader as well as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, the de facto top position in the Communist Party.
In 2018, a law was passed to get rid of the two-term limit on the Chinese President. This has cleared the way for President Xi Jinping to be the leader for life. The seven members of the standing committee of the CCP, known as Politburo, select the General Secretary of the CCP, not the citizens.
In practice, Chinese parliament has no decision-making power, it usualy approves decisions made by the Politburo. So as to Xi being a dictator, I leave you to draw your conclusion.
Interestingly, President Joe Biden on Thursday, June 22, 2023, defended his calling of President Xi Jinping a dictator, saying his words would have no negative impact on U.S.-China relations and that he still expects to meet with Xi sometime soon.
This shows that Biden, though defiant in his claim, anticipates a thaw in the U.S-China relation. However, it will take a considerable amount of time for it to return to relatively normal.
