{"id":18332,"date":"2019-12-10T11:38:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T07:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/?p=18332"},"modified":"2019-12-10T11:38:21","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T07:38:21","slug":"asf-2019-former-chinese-foreign-minister-li-zhaoxing-calls-out-us-for-meddling-in-chinas-internal-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/asf-2019-former-chinese-foreign-minister-li-zhaoxing-calls-out-us-for-meddling-in-chinas-internal-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"ASF 2019: Former Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing Calls Out US For Meddling In China’s Internal Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the highlight of the 12th<\/sup> Arab Strategy Forum (ASF 2019) that took place in Dubai on Monday, a candid panel discussion involving Chinese Former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and former US Vice President Dick Cheney brought \u2018The Global Order in 2030\u2019 into focus.<\/p>\n

The high-level panellists provided polar perspectives on the US and China\u2019s roles in a shifting status quo. The session drew the participation of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.<\/p>\n

For his part, Dick Cheney offered his views on the world order in the next decade within the context of the rising threat from Iran, China\u2019s oppressive regime and Russia\u2019s designs on the region, in addition to the economic impact of technological and security trends. He further examined how these will affect the role of the US in maintaining world security.<\/p>\n

The 46th<\/sup> Vice President of the US displayed his diplomatic prowess through constantly circling back to the historically strong alliances between the western superpower and the Arab world.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, there\u2019s been a consensus of America\u2019s influence in the world and how to use it. Humanity has benefitted from America\u2019s protectionism of the world and its relationship with its allies in the region,\u201d said Cheney, citing instances where US disengagement has caused the political situation in the Middle East to implode. He mentioned the withdrawal of the US troops out of Syria and the 2015 lifting of sanctions against Iran during the Obama regime that amplified instability in the region. \u201cOur allies were left abandoned, and no one wants to feel that way again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning to the role that the US and China will play in the global status quo by 2030, Cheney said there were still concerns over China\u2019s reputation. \u201cWe had hoped that there would be a political evolution in China, but that hasn\u2019t happened yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In response to Cheney\u2019s perspective, Li Zhaoxing said, \u201cChina will never learn from a world superpower and will never try to be hegemonic.\u201d He confidently stated that China will never try to be a superpower like the US.<\/p>\n

In a speech interspersed with personal anecdotes, Li Zhaoxing elaborated on China\u2019s strong relations with the UAE and the wider Arab world, and the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Chinese foreign policy.<\/p>\n

In the discussion that followed, Cheney said that since the end of the Cold War, the US expected that its policy towards China would have a beneficial effect on its behaviour and deepen bilateral relations. \u201cIt was disappointing to see that these expectations were not borne out \u2013 China has only grown richer, the regime has become more oppressive, and instead of evolving, it became more assertive,\u201d Cheney said.<\/p>\n

When asked about this gap between rhetoric and behaviour from China\u2019s perspective, Li Zhaoxing said, \u201cChina believes in keeping the people \u2013 from China and across the world \u2013 at the centre of everything it does. The One Belt, One Road initiative is an example of how China wants to learn from others\u2019 experiences and cooperate for peaceful coexistence. History is the best teacher, but the US has forgotten its own history. You don\u2019t keep your promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referencing history, Li Zhaoxing dismissed the trade wars of today to take the audience back to a time when the US was fighting similar trade wars with the British. \u201cThe North American continent used to be a colony of the British empire. The Americans were ruled, exploited and bullied, and they greatly suffered.\u00a0 And now you want to bully others, just like the British used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Cheney\u2019s opinion, history has cast the US in the role of an enforcer of good and not as a nation that sows discord. The upcoming decade would be bleak should the US adopt a disengagement policy, with the pressures most felt by supporters and partners in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the highlight of the 12th Arab Strategy Forum (ASF 2019) that took place in Dubai on Monday, a candid panel discussion involving Chinese Former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and former US Vice President Dick Cheney brought \u2018The Global Order in 2030\u2019 into focus. The high-level panellists provided polar perspectives on the US and China\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18337,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18332\/revisions\/18337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.middleeastevents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}