林保華

Deciphering a dictator’s poker face and smile

    By Paul Lin 林保華
Taipei Times  2024.9.10

Dictators always wear a poker face to look daunting. If they put on a smile, they must be after something. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) recently showed a smile — despite being a fake one, it carried profound meaning.

There is a communication channel between China and the US to avoid conflicts: irregular meetings between Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Having met three times in a third country, this was the first time Sullivan visited China to talk with Wang, which he did for 11 hours. Sullivan even met Xi and Zhang Youxia (張又俠), vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China’s second-highest-ranking military official. It was clear that Sullivan was given access to high levels of the hierarchy.

When meeting Sullivan, Xi’s smile was broadcast in China and in the world. While Sullivan is not a president, that he was afforded such a privilege made things interesting.

While US President Joe Biden still has a chance to meet Xi at the APEC summit in november, he will have no regrets, as there is no conflict between China and the US during his time in office.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is utilitarian. The US, its sworn enemy, is the only country the CCP fears.

While Biden is approaching the end of his tenure, former Chinese ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai (崔天凱), despite all his connections, could not arrange a meeting with Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s team. Cui had to be content with receiving incumbent US officials.

It was clear that Beijing had a favor to ask, trying to persuade Americans not to treat China as its biggest threat and not to sanction the country, as these sanctions are exacerbating its economic downturn, financial turmoil and acute unemployment, destabilizing its governance and weakening its diplomatic clout.

“China’s commitment to the goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged, its principle in handling the relationship based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation remains unchanged, its position of firmly safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, security and development interests remains unchanged, and its efforts to carry forward the traditional friendship between the Chinese and American people remain unchanged,” Xi said.

Does Xi have dementia? Has he forgotten how he overturned the trade deal forged by then-Chinese vice premier Liu He (劉鶴) and Trump’s administration, Chinese surveillance balloons flying over the US, China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite US opposition, Chinese warplanes looking like US warplanes, and Chinese fentanyl being trafficked into the US through Mexico?

While Xi is courting the US, China is sticking to its four red lines: Taiwan, democracy and human rights, the Chinese path and system, and China’s right to development. The fact is the US did help China with its development; otherwise, how could China have become a member of the WTO?

It is China that has been ungrateful and has been trying to steal US intellectual properties. The White House changed its policy after China continued to rack up big trade surpluses.

Biden has, again and again, made it clear that the US is not seeking to start a new trade war, to change China’s system, to strengthen relations with its allies to act against China, to support Taiwan’s independence, nor to involve itself in any conflicts with China.

Xi does not believe in Biden’s words. Both sides could not meet each other halfway. Therefore, it would be better for Xi to save his smile for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Paul Lin is a Taipei-based political commentator.

Translated by Fion Khan