Chinese president Xi Jinping warns West not to adopt 'Cold War mentality', threatens 'catastrophic consequences'
During the speech, Xi took aim at western nations, which have been adopting protectionist economic policies and forming alliances to counter China’s rise.
Chairman Xi Jinping warned China’s rivals from adopting a “Cold War mentality,” stating that a confrontation with China will only result in “catastrophic consequences.”
In a speech just a day before the Davos World Economic Forum, Xi said that it is necessary for the world to move away from the mentality that captured the East and the West for decades.
“Our world today is far from being tranquil; rhetorics that stoke hatred and prejudice abound,” Xi said, per Chinese state transcripts. “Acts of containment, suppression or confrontation arising thereof do all harm, not the least good, to world peace and security. History has proved time and again that confrontation does not solve problems; it only invites catastrophic consequences. Protectionism and unilateralism can protect no one; they ultimately hurt the interests of others as well as one’s own. Even worse are the practices of hegemony and bullying, which run counter to the tide of history.”
“Naturally, countries have divergences and disagreements between them. Yet a zero-sum approach that enlarges one’s own gain at the expense of others will not help,” Xi added.
During the speech, Xi took aim at western nations, which have been adopting protectionist economic policies and forming alliances to counter China’s rise. As detailed by Rebel News, the United States passed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region, where over a million members of the Uyghur are housed in concentration camps. The United States has also established the Clean Network, which is a network of tech companies that excludes China’s Huawei and other Chinese companies suspected of providing backdoor access to Chinese state intelligence agencies.
“Acts of single-mindedly building ‘exclusive yards with high walls’ or ‘parallel systems,’ of enthusiastically putting together exclusive small circles or blocs that polarize the world, of overstretching the concept of national security to hold back economic and technological advances of other countries, and of fanning ideological antagonism and politicizing or weaponizing economic, scientific and technological issues, will gravely undercut international efforts to tackle common challenges,” warned Xi.
The Chinese leader appeared to be referencing a concept forwarded by western academics for western nations to establish a parallel system of finance and technology due to their inability to compete with Chinese state-subsidized tech.
Xi made similar remarks during last year's World Economic Forum, where he warned of a “new Cold War,” caused by nations sanctioning and cutting ties with each other. He made his remarks as a number of countries took economic actions against China for its naval expansion in the South China Sea.
“The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era,” said Xi at the time.
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