Indian Defence Review

Bungee jumping always is thrilling especially knowing that the chord will prevent ones head hitting the ground. But there have been fatalities in bungee jumping although America’s National Safety Council says a person is more likely to be killed being stung by a bee or struck by lightning than during tandem skydiving, and same is the fatalities rate in bungee jumping – 1 in 500,000.But when the head of a state does bungee jumping the safety is ensured many times over.

The world just witnessed bungee jumping with Chinese characteristics executed by China’s President Xi Jinping   at UNGA – narrating a pack of lies from behind a poker face, confident no one will question his virtual address or rather he wouldn’t care one bit if anyone did. Jinping’s address incidentally coincided with the 50th anniversary China’s entry into the United Nations concurrent to denying Taiwan UN membership; courtesy the Nixon-Kissinger shenanigans of that era which created the monster that China has become today, with whom even the US finds difficult to severe economic ties beyond odd limited sanctions.

Referring to the pandemic, Jinping said the world should always put people and their lives first and care about the life, value and dignity of every individual. He stressed the need for enhanced coordinated global response to the pandemic and minimizing the risk of cross ‘border virus transmission’ – look who is talking? What about the virus leaked from the P-4 lab in Wuhan and Jinping’s frequent visits to the lab connected with the pandemic? Why have all traces been obliterated from the virology lab? Why has similar virology research facility been established in Pakistan with Chinese assistance?

Next Jinping talked of revitalizing the economy and pursue more robust, ‘greener’ and more balanced global development; proposing a global development initiative. He could have simply explained his BRI project stretching from East Asia to Europe. As for ‘greener’ development, China is the world’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions suffering from notoriously bad air pollution. Its carbon-intensive industries have caused additional environmental challenges, including water scarcity and soil contamination.

Jinping spoke of commitment to people–centricapproach, improving people livelihoods and protecting and ‘promoting human rights’ through development. This was comical when Jinpingpresides over one of the most repressive regimes, if not the worst. What about the ongoing genocide in Tibet, Xinjiang and assisting Pakistani genocide in Balochistan? What about disappearance of dissenters in China, killings and their organs being sold?

Xi then talked of China caring about special needs of developing countries and that the world may employ such means as debt suspension and development aid to help developing countries, particularly vulnerable ones. Naturally Jinpingavoided mentioning China’s predatory debt policies across countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sudan, Ethiopia and more countries in the process of similarly succumbing to Beijing’s sinister designs.

China he said it will strive to reprieve carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, achieve chief carbon neutrality before 2060 and not build new coal-fired power projects abroad. But what about coal-fired power projects in Pakistan for which China is supplying coal itself having branded the coal mined in Pakistan inferior and unfit? Will these be shut down?

Jinping said a world of peace and development should embrace civilizations of various forms and must accommodate diverse path to modernization. Democracy is not a special right reserved to any individual country, but a right for the people of all countries to enjoy. But here, what type of democracy is China where Jinping has accumulated all power, more than Mao Zedongand behaves like 21st century Hitler?

Commenting on recent international developments, Jinping rejected the “practice of forming small circles or zero sum games”. This was obviously with reference to the establishment of AUKUS (the US, UK, Australia tripartite security pact) as also the Quad which actually haveemerged in face of China’s brazen aggressiveness.

The crowning howler of Jinping’s monologue was when he said: “China has never, and will never invade or bully others or seek hegemony; China is always a builder of world peace, contributor to global development, defender of the international order, and provider of public goods, and; China will continue to bring the world new opportunities through its new development.” An utterly facile contemptuous trash smugly delivered!!.

What about China’s annexation of Tibet, Inner Mongolia and East Turkistan? What about the invasions against the USSR, Vietnam and India? What about the territories grabbed in India, Bhutan, Nepal and South China Sea? What about threatening territorial integrity of neighbours like Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia? If China doesn’t want war, why did it announce a 6.8 percent hike in defence budget over 2020, which comes to $209 billion – the highest ever? Who will attack China if it pursues the path of pecae?

Towards the end, Jinping praised the UN saying there is only one international order underpinned by international law and there is only one set of rules – basic norms governing the international relations underpin by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. This hardly was in synch with the president of a country which has consistently defied international norms, UNCLOS included, defied judgment of the Hague-based International Court of Justice and is known to be indirectly ‘purchasing’ influence in various organs of the UN, the WHO included and of late World Bank too.

Finally, Jinping said, “Let us bolster confidence against global threats and challenges, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind and a better world for all.” The small generic comment about “global threats and challenges” avoided mention of terrorism and cooperation required in counterterrorism. This was more than conspicuous given that terrorism has emerged as one of the top threats to humanity especially after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Liaison set up in MaoZedong’s time recruited and supported extremist Maoist groups in Nepal and Burma (now Myanmar), New People’s Army of Philippines, Khmer Rouge in Cambodia (now Kampuchea), Japanese Red Army, and Shining Path in Peru.  The China-sponsored bloody Maoist insurgency in Nepal resulted in deaths of over 17,000 Nepalese citizens and displaced thousands internally; characterized by massacres, purges, summary executions, kidnappings and worst of crimes against humanity – on same lines what Mao perpetrated within China.

China has been sponsoring and supporting insurgencies in India and Myanmar in conjunction Pakistan. China and Pakistan both supported andarmed the Taliban for fighting the US-NATO troops in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. China has been protecting Pakistani terrorists from being designated terrorist by the UN. On September 23, China has called for lifting of sanctions against the Taliban-administered Afghanistan and urged the US not to use Afghanistan’s frozen foreign exchange reserves as a “bargaining chip” to exert political pressure on the Taliban.

With all the lies Xi Jinping spoke at UNGA, the question remains whether the world will make China pay for its deeds or will it keep getting away with its rogue behavior in the future as well.