China’s Xi threatens ‘catastrophic consequences’ if confronted, derides cold war mentality

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has threatened “catastrophic consequences” in retaliation to any confrontation with Beijing on Monday, stressing that countries around the world should uphold true multilateralism and not cold war mentality, without naming the US. Chinese President pushed for peaceful coexistence for ‘win-win’ outcomes over the rhetorics that stoke hatred and prejudice. He warned that any acts of containment, suppression or confrontation with China would do harm, not the least good, to world peace and security. “Confrontation does not solve problems; it only invites catastrophic consequences,” he said. 

At a virtual-Davos World Economic Forum, Chinese autocratic leader Xi asserted that the world needs to move away from what he labelled the “Cold War mentality” adding that it does not solve problems; it only invites catastrophic consequences. “Our world today is far from being tranquil; rhetorics that stoke hatred and prejudice abound,” Xi said at the forum, according to transcripts of his speech released by the World Economic Forum. “Acts of containment, suppression or confrontation arising thereof do all harm, not the least good, to world peace and security,” he iterated. 

Countries’ practising 'hegemony, power politics and bullying': Jinping 

Jinping condemned some countries’ practices of “hegemony and bullying,” stressing that a zero-sum approach that “enlarges one's own gain at the expense of others” will not help. He accused the nations of single-mindedly building "exclusive yards with high walls” to polarize the world, by overstretching the concept of national security and holding back the economic and technological advances of other countries.

Not naming any country in particular, the Chinese authoritarian said condemned the ideological antagonism, politicizing and weaponizing economic, scientific, and technological issues, which he stressed: “will gravely undercut international efforts to tackle common challenges.” He then called for stable international order, dialogue over confrontation, inclusiveness over exclusion, and derided all forms of unilateralism, protectionism, hegemony, or power politics.

The President of the People's Republic of China also discussed the challenges that the world is facing from the ‘once-in-a-century’ COVID-19 pandemic. “We must do everything necessary to clear the shadow of the pandemic and boost economic and social recovery and development, so that the sunshine of hope may light up the future of humanity,” he said in his address to The Davos Agenda.

On the major issue of common concerns about the pandemic among nations worldwide Xi quoted a Chinese saying: "The momentum of the world either flourishes or declines; the state of the world either progresses or regresses.”He insisted that the world needed to foster new opportunities amidst crises, open up new horizons on a shifting landscape, and demonstrate strength to go through difficulties and challenges. He noted that cooperation among the nations is integral to jointly defeat the pandemic. 

Jinping warned that the pandemic is proving a protracted one, resurging with more variants and spreading faster than witnessed before, adding that it will pose a serious threat to safety and health, and a profound impact on the global economy in the days ahead. “Global cooperation”, he said, “is the only right way to defeat the pandemic. Holding each other back or shifting blame would only cause needless delay in response and distract us from the overall objective.”

China has donated over two billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, iterated the Chinese leader, as he pledged one billion doses to African countries, and 150 million doses to ASEAN countries. He also categorically stressed that China will present a streamlined, safe and splendid Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to the world amid the boycott from the developed nations that include the US and its allies. 

Image: AP