Throwing down the gauntlet means issuing a direct challenge and that’s what top Chinese diplomats have done this week in Alaska. Some Chinese diplomats around the world have been aggressive as part of what they called “wolf warrior” actions. But now China’s top two diplomats have established beyond a shadow of a doubt that China is attacking the values that Americans uphold and the power that we wield in the world through “soft power.” We don’t always remain true to those values but they remain our guiding force.
The key language came from Yang Jiechi, who is China’s top diplomat. He is a member of the ruling Politburo of the Communist Party of China. He reacted to criticism over China’s efforts to erase the Uighur identity and crush democratic aspirations in Hong Kong. “I don’t think the overwhelming majority of countries in the world would recognize that the universal values advocated by the United States or that the opinion of the United States could represent international public opinion,” Yang said.
Yang pointed out America’s own internal problems. “The challenges facing the United States in human rights are deep-seated,” Yang said, referencing the Black Lives Matter protests. “It’s important that we manage our respective affairs well instead of deflecting the blame on somebody else in the world.”
China’s sense of strength stems in part from its ability to largely control the coronavirus and to get its economy moving again. But on an even deeper level, President Xi Jinping senses that this is the critical moment when “the East rises” and the United States, China’s No. 1 enemy, declines, as per this article in the New York Times from earlier this month.
