Xi talks tough at summit with Biden; warns of 'playing with fire' over Taiwan
Beijing/Washington(PTI): Striking a tough posture at the much-awaited virtual summit with his US counterpart Joe Biden on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping said that China will "certainly defend" its sovereignty and security interests as he warned that whoever plays with fire over Taiwan will "get burnt".
In a lengthy speech touching a host of issues at the over three-hour-long summit, Xi, fresh from last week's ruling Communist Party of China Plenum meet endorsing an unprecedented third term for him from next year and perhaps for life, pointed Beijing's "red lines" on a host of issues, including Taiwan, and said China's rise is an "inevitable trend of history" and cannot be stopped.
On Taiwan, where China has pressed over 200 military jets into the estranged islands air defence zone ratcheting tensions, 68-year-old Xi ascribed the tensions to the repeated attempts by the Taiwan authorities to look for US support for their independence agenda as well as the intention of some Americans to use Taiwan to contain China.
"Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire. Whoever plays with fire will get burnt. The one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques are the political foundation of China-US relations," Xi told Biden.
Previous US administrations have all made clear commitments on this question. "The true status quo of the Taiwan question and what lies at the heart of one-China are as follows: there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China," he said.
"Achieving China's complete reunification is an aspiration shared by all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. We have patience and will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts. That said, should the separatist forces for Taiwan independence provoke us, force our hands or even cross the red line, we will be compelled to take resolute measures," he said.
Significantly, Xi in his talks with Biden has referred to the just-concluded meeting of the CPC Plenum, which has reinforced his powers hailing him as helmsman , an honorific title reserved for party founder Mao Zedong.
The Plenum took stock of the major achievements and historical experience of the CPC in the past 100 years, Xi said.
"Over the past century, the CPC has kept to its founding aspiration and mission of striving for the happiness of the Chinese people and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," he said. "A lot has been accomplished in this direction, but that is far from enough. More needs to be done."
Xi said since he took over power in 2012 he had stated "publicly that the Chinese people's aspiration for a better life is the goal to strive for "
"Any attempt to stop this historical trend will be rejected by the Chinese people, and will by no means succeed," he said in an apparent reference to the US attempts to contain China's rise.
"As China's leader, serving the 1.4 billion Chinese people and working with them for a better life is a great challenge and a great responsibility. I shall put aside my own well-being and live up to people's expectations, he said.
Asking Biden to seize "political leadership" to bring the bilateral ties back on track from the path of confrontation, Xi said managing differences and sensitive issues in a constructive way is the way out to prevent China-US relations from getting "derailed or out of control".
"It is only natural for the two countries to have differences. The key is to manage them constructively so that they don't magnify or exacerbate, he said.
But at the same time, he said, "China will certainly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests. It is important that the US properly handle the relevant issues with prudence .
"History is a fair judge. What a statesman does, be it right or wrong, be it an accomplishment or a failure, will all be recorded by history. It is hoped that President Biden will demonstrate political leadership and steer America's China policy back on the track of reason and pragmatism," he said.
He said the two countries need to respect each other's social systems and development paths, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and respect each other's right to development
"No conflict and no confrontation is a line that both sides must hold and the two countries should coexist peacefully by pursuing win-win cooperation," he said.
"With their interests deeply intertwined, China and the US stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. The world is big enough for the countries to develop individually and collectively. The right thing to do is to choose mutual benefit over a zero-sum game or the I-win-you-lose approach, Xi said.
China-US cooperation may not solve all problems, but few problems cannot be solved without China-US cooperation, he said.
Without referring to his multibillion-dollar pet project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), or the rival Built Back Better World (B3W) floated by Biden, Xi said the global initiatives China has proposed are all open to the US. We hope the reverse is also true, he said.
He also hit out at Biden's initiative of uniting countries with democratic systems with plans to hold a summit of democracies next month to unite against China and authoritarian regimes.
"Democracy is not mass produced with a uniform model or configuration for countries around the world. Whether a country is democratic or not should be left to its own people to decide. Dismissing forms of democracy that are different from one's own is in itself undemocratic, Xi said.
In an apparent reference to US allegations of genocide against Uygurs in Xinjiang and Tibet as well as Hong Kong, he said China is ready to have dialogues on human rights on the basis of mutual respect, "but we oppose using human rights to meddle in other countries' internal affairs".
On climate change, he referred to the recent agreement between top polluters - US and China - at the COP26 Glasgow summit and said, "China will make the world's biggest cut in carbon emission intensity in the shortest time frame in history, a task that will require extraordinary efforts. China means what it says. It only commits to what it can deliver, and never makes a promise it cannot keep .
On COVID-19 and the debate over its origins in Wuhan where the virus first surfaced in 2019, Xi said that solidarity and cooperation is the most powerful weapon for the international community to defeat COVID-19.
"Response to any major disease must be based on science. Politicising diseases does no good but only harm. The pressing priority in the global COVID response is to address the vaccine deficits and close the vaccination gap, he said and suggested global vaccine cooperation.
He expressed his readiness to stay in touch with Biden through multiple means to set the direction and inject more momentum into bilateral relations.
The summit is the third engagement between Xi and Biden since February. The two leaders had a lengthy phone call in September.
The meeting came amid high tension in China-US bilateral relationship over Beijing's actions on issues like trade, human rights, the South China Sea and Taiwan.
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Congress not just removed clothes at AI Summit but exposed its intellectual bankruptcy: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday came down heavily on the Congress for the shirtless protest by its youth wing members at the AI Impact Summit recently, saying the opposition party can tear as many clothes as it wants, but his government will continue to work for the country's progress.
Addressing the News18 Rising Bharat Summit, Modi also said that the Congress did not just remove its clothes in front of foreign guests but also exposed its intellectual bankruptcy, asserting that the millennials have already taught the country's oldest party a lesson, and now Gen-Z is ready to do the same.
In an apparent jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Modi said the opposition was unhappy seeing the statue of "Babbar Shers" (lions) installed atop the new Parliament building, but their own “Babbar Shers" were running away after facing the "shoes" of the general public.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had said on February 24 that he was proud of the "Babbar Shers" of the Indian Youth Congress, who "fearlessly" raised their voice at the AI Summit.
"Congress ke Babbar Sher logon ki jute kha ke bhaag gaye (The 'lions' of Congress ran away after being hit by shoes by the public)," Modi said.
The prime minister was apparently referring to the protesting Youth Congress workers being heckled by some people at the AI Summit.
On February 20, a group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers staged a dramatic protest inside Hall No. 5 of the summit venue in Delhi by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with anti-government slogans, triggering a political slugfest between the BJP and the Congress.
“Congress can tear as many clothes as it wants, but we will continue to work for India's development. Congress not just shed clothes at the AI Summit, it also exposed its incapabilities in front of foreign guests,” Modi said in his nearly 45-minute speech.
He said the AI Summit was a moment of pride for the entire nation, but unfortunately, Congress attempted to tarnish this national celebration.
"When the frustration and despair of failure weigh on the mind, and arrogance makes one's head spin, such a mindset emerges to defame the country," he said.
The prime minister also alleged that the Congress always takes refuge in Mahatma Gandhi to hide its failures, but tries to give credit to one family for anything good.
"People of our country welcomed every good step taken by our government, but the Congress only knows how to oppose everything. The votes of Congress are not stolen; rather, people do not consider Congress worthy of their votes. Millennials first taught a lesson to Congress, now Gen-Z is ready to do the same," he said.
Modi also said that in a democracy, the role of the opposition is not just about blindly opposing every move of the government, but presenting an alternative vision, and that is why the "enlightened public" of the country is "teaching a lesson" to Congress now.
In 1984, the Congress got 39 per cent of the votes and more than 400 seats. But its votes declined consistently in the subsequent elections, Modi said.
"Today, the condition of the Congress is such that it has more than 50 MLAs in just four states. Over the past 40 years, the number of young voters in the country has increased, but the Congress has clearly diminished," Modi said.
On the recent trade deals that India signed with foreign countries, Modi said the country has discovered its inherent strength and strengthened its institutions, which prompted developed nations to come forward and sign deals with India.
He also said that even after Independence, some people ensured that the colonial mindset remained for their own benefits.
"No country would have done trade deals with us had we not discovered our inherent strength and strengthened our institutions. Because of this, developed nations have come forward to sign trade deals (with India)," he said.
Modi also said that even after Independence, India was unable to break free from the mentality of slavery, for which the country is still paying the price.
"The latest example of this can be seen in the ongoing discussions on trade deals. Some people are shocked – ‘what has happened, how did this happen? Why are developed countries so eager to do trade deals with India?’ The answer is – a confident India is emerging from despair and frustration," he said.
Over the long span of history, centuries of slavery had instilled a feeling of inferiority, while the ideology imported from other countries deeply ingrained in society the notion that Indians were uneducated and subservient, the prime minister said.
"If the country was still mired in the despair of the pre-2014 era, counted among the 'Fragile Five', and gripped by policy paralysis, who would strike a trade deal with us?
"Over the past 11 years, a new surge of energy has flowed into the nation's consciousness. India is now striving to reclaim its lost potential," Modi said.
The prime minister also said that due to the recent series of reforms initiated by his government, the world's most powerful nations are now coming forward to sign trade deals with India.
"There was a time when India was only a consumer of new technology. But now we are not just developing them, but also setting standards," he said.
The prime minister also said that India's digital public infrastructure has become a subject of global discussion today, and every move India makes is closely watched and analysed across the world.
"The AI Summit was a clear example of this," he said.
The government's 'Viksit Bharat by 2047' is not a political slogan but an effort to correct the mistakes of the previous Congress governments by making India self-reliant, he said.
“So far, in every industrial revolution, India and the Global South largely remained followers, but in this age of artificial intelligence (AI), India is not only participating but is also shaping it. India now has its own AI startup ecosystem,” Modi said.
He also said the world is astonished that India, where around 30 million families lived in darkness until 2014, has now risen to become one of the top countries in solar power capacity.
India, where many cities had no hope of improving their public transport system, has now become the country with the world's third-largest Metro network, Modi said.
“The Indian Railways was known only for chronic delays and sluggish speeds, yet semi-high-speed connectivity like Vande Bharat and Namo Bharat has now become possible,” he said.
Nation-building never happens through short-term thinking; it is shaped by a long-term vision, patience and timely decisions, the prime minister added.
