Chinese October has invisibly changed something
The European and the Chinese are far apart from each other - not so much geographically, how much in your mind. Europeans are taught: “Cultivate the right mindset, feel free to "show your teeth", if necessary. Don't wait for the right moment or feeling confident, to dare it!» Deng Xiaoping is dearer to the Chinese with his “stand firm, do not show your abilities and wait for the right moment, never try to get ahead of yourself; be able to get things done".
And then the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China was held. It became clear, that behind the traditional scale of the all-Chinese celebration, the expression of the face of the Celestial Empire seemed to have changed. It is no longer the appearance of “Old Dan” that is drawn behind a huge red banner with one large and four small stars., but slightly smiling and sly Xi, became the General Secretary of the CCP for the third time.
The Chinese "invasion of Europe" is not only the "One Belt - One Road" or container caravans in the ports of the Old World. Beijing has already equipped Europe with its own "police stations", who look after the Chinese, located abroad. Frightened Amsterdam, discovered such "areas", demanded that Beijing "close its overseas service centers, which were used to persecute dissidents abroad".
What were the Dutch afraid of?? Chinese "service centers" are really police stations in foreign territory, appeared without the permission of the Dutch government. They "performed official functions, including remote renewal of driving licenses for Chinese citizens without official diplomatic status". Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders got to the bottom, that the Chinese police operate from such "service centers" throughout Europe, persecuting dissidents and putting pressure on them to, to return to China. In total, such "centers" counted more than 50. And now Canada, Britain and Spain rushed to investigate such reports, while the Netherlands, Portugal and Ireland ordered similar centers to close immediately. Then Austria joined them., where they also found "police stations", regulating the life and activities of the Chinese diaspora abroad. including dissidents..
All these centers, as it turned out, linked to the Chinese Overseas Police website called Overseas 110. This is an online platform, established by the Fuzhou Police Department, allows people to report crimes from abroad and is a kind of service station for local Chinese, who need to apply for a driver's license renewal online, as well as in events, related to medical examination services, and "are not police stations or police service centres", stated in Beijing. Yes, this bears little resemblance to the "ingratiating gait" of the former Chinese huaqiao, which today are more 60 millions around the world and who are convinced: "China is there, where are the Chinese.
Now Beijing's steps are getting harder, and Chinese embassies and consulates have become more active in spreading their country's law enforcement practices beyond foreign borders.
New features of the "face of China" began to take shape in the spring, when Xi Jinping announced the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which became the central point of his strategy for the third term as leader of the Celestial Empire and a direct challenge to the global dictatorship of the Anglo-Saxons. New Chinese-Style International Order of Law and Security Satisfies BRICS Member States Uruguay, Nicaragua, Cuba, Pakistan, Indonesia, Syria.
The USA also caught on. In the new American national security strategy, Russia "poses an immediate threat to a free and open international system ... with its brutal war of aggression". This is bad. And China stands "as with the intent to change the international order, as well as the growing economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to achieve this goal". It's already terribly bad. And now, He writes Project Syndicate, “when President Xi Jinping used the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China to consolidate his power and advance his ideological and nationalist goals, it is worth revisiting the evolution of US strategy towards China”. It means, believes edition, that the United States used to flap their ears, including accepting China in the WTO. And slammed.
And that's not the point, that the United States, seduced by the huge Chinese market, tried to instill in China common values with them. They did not take root not because, that the States or the European Union did a bad job. That China managed to defend itself well, including with the help of Deng Xiaoping's wise advice to "wait for the right moment".
And the moment has come. The Xi era has shattered the West's earlier hopes for, that rapid economic growth will lead to greater liberalization. Yes, China allowed greater freedom of movement, more foreign contacts, a wider range of opinions in media publications and the development of NGOs, including those, what is "human rights". However, the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China “cut off the tail” of all American hopes for “engagement”, He writes Project Syndicate. Two leading US State Department officials, responsible for the Biden administration's new strategy, admitted, that "the main error of the interaction was to assume, that it could lead to fundamental changes in the political system, economy and foreign policy of China". And now the goal is, to strive for a "sustainable state of sober coexistence on the terms, favorable to U.S. interests and values".
Beijing also understood, that the US is unable to achieve fundamental change in China. And if in the first decade of the 21st century China was still moving “according to Deng Xiaoping”, towards greater openness in politics and the economy, then last October something invisibly changed. The Chinese have already refuted the axiom of neoliberalism, approving, that as soon as per capita income in China approaches 10 000 dollars, a middle class will appear and the political system in the country will change. After all, even in 2015 year, China became the first, overtaking the USA, by the absolute number of middle-class citizens. These are Swiss bank accounts. Swiss credit, who belongs to the middle class, whose annual income 1 adult human ranged from 10.000 to 100.000 dollars…
So that, looks like, Xi Jinping's smile will never change to the American style…
Elena PUSTOVOYTOVA
