Staff Reports
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping flaunted his grip as a formidable global player during the recent G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. With Joe Biden seemingly uninterested and absent, Xi seized the opportunity to promote China’s would-be benevolence, all while engaging in horrifying human rights abuses back home. In a dazzling display of hypocrisy, Xi presented himself as a leader for the so-called “Global South,” despite China’s robust economy and its real estate on the globe’s upper half.
While Xi held court, he also championed the infamous Belt and Road Initiative, a scheme that has duped developing nations into a cycle of debt and dependence on Chinese investments. Strutting around like the ultimate peacock at a fashion show, he urged world leaders to come together against “unilateralism and protectionism,” as if his country’s monopolization of critical supply chains could be glossed over with some slick talk about cooperation.
Leaders launching the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty pic.twitter.com/7HxhNs70pz
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) November 18, 2024
The joint G20 declaration, meanwhile, took a notably anti-Western stance, driven by fashionable leftist rhetoric. It put forth demands for reforms aimed at reducing the power of Western nations in the United Nations while conveniently neglecting to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or even mentioning Hamas amidst its crisis with Israel. In essence, the G20 got a Scrooge-like lesson in ignoring pressing evils while pandering to uncomfortable allegiances.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal supporter of socialism and redistributive policies, had grand designs for the summit. However, the rocky consensus among member states was indicative of the potential chaos that might ensue after a Trump re-election. Despite Lula’s dreams of global wealth distribution, the members were hesitant to embrace hard-left agendas, especially considering America could soon be back in the driver’s seat under Trump’s pro-manufacturing policies.
While Xi recited the usual platitudes about climate change, he slyly implied that other nations must sacrifice for Mother Earth, while China can continue its polluting ways, because apparently, “developing nations” need a little more leeway in terms of environmental responsibilities. This brazen assertion from the world’s worst polluter is a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do,” and it’s hard not to be amused by this circus of accountability.
As Xi giddily pushed for an expansion of the G20’s influence, discussions of human rights and freedoms fantastically disappeared from the agenda—such topics are, after all, Xi’s “red lines.” This remains a paradox typical of authoritarian regimes, which demand respect for their systems while simultaneously trampling freedoms at home. Meanwhile, Biden appeared to pat Xi on the back for their cordial rapport, as if crisis management is somehow synonymous with warm hugs instead of hard truths.
In short, the G20 summit was yet another opportunity for Xi to shine, while his legacy of oppression continues to rage on. For conservative Americans, it signals the need for vigilance and a firm stance against the encroaching influence of communist China, especially when their allies remain silent amid conflict and tyranny.
