Unless two countries have a falling out and break diplomatic ties, diplomats and foreign service personnel should not publicly criticize the head of state of the country to which they are posted.
However, US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns has broken the mold, taking shots at Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and pointing out why the bilateral cooperative relationship has eroded, saying that Xi is the problem.
Burns made it clear that the US and China had relatively few problems while power was in the hands of former Chinese Communist Party leaders Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), but now, opportunities for US-China cooperation no longer exist. With Xi in charge of China’s government, his country has undergone big changes. It has become menacing and imperious, and views smaller nations with contempt, intent on projecting China’s power throughout Asia and the Pacific, even to the point of world hegemony, all while using repression to rule domestically.
Burns gave a speech at the Asia Society in Washington, in which he blamed Xi’s bloated personality cult and misjudgement of the power of the US, Japan, Germany, the EU and NATO, on his belief that “the East is rising and the West is declining.”
China is ignoring the US’ request to stop providing Russia with armaments and parts in its war against Ukraine. This is a serious issue in bilateral relations.
Surprisingly, Burns is not the first US Department of State official to publicly speak out against Xi. The consensus of the two major US political parties is that issues in US-China relations have their roots in Xi’s China.
After US President Joe Biden met with Xi at the San Francisco Summit last year, Biden went so far as to publicly call Xi a “dictator.”
Biden used to have misplaced faith in personal exchanges with Xi, believing that he was an “old friend,” but his criticism is no longer out of the ordinary.
At the beginning of this month in an interview with Time magazine, Biden said that no national leader would be willing to trade places with Xi.
“You’ve got an economy that’s on the brink there. The idea that their economy is booming? Give me a break,” he said.
Burns’ reference to China under Deng, Jiang and Hu was his way of blaming Xi for China’s internal and external chaos, including the halt on opening and reform policies; his U-turns on promises and desire for dictatorial power; attempting to use military force to change the “status quo” in the South China and East China seas, and the Taiwan Strait; and not convincing Russia to stop its invasion and war in Ukraine, but instead throwing it a lifeline.
The US is not allowing Xi to take the chance to stoke nationalism by taking aim at his obstinacy and recalcitrance.
It wants Chinese to realize that “their Xi Jinping” is the instigator and it is he who has mired China in its economic predicament.
After more than half a century, Americans have come to consider China to be Asia’s problem, while China’s problem is Xi.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) brays that the government is “provoking” China and that he is speaking up in the name of peace.
Ma and his ilk have made the absurd demand that Taiwanese should “believe” Xi’s words.
This small group of miscreants is Taiwan’s problem.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Tim Smith
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