Bill Clinton Says China's Direction Under Xi Upended U.S. Ties

[TexasTowelie]

Former President Bill Clinton said Xi Jinping’s long-term reign has upended U.S.-China relations, and will require Joe Biden’s incoming administration and its allies to take a more coordinated approach to dealing with Beijing.

Speaking in conversation with former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Clinton said the U.S. could strengthen its negotiating position with China by enlisting partners, from Europe to Asian nations which were part of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact abandoned by President Donald Trump.

Xi has abolished term limits and could rule for years to come. Last month, he laid out an ambition to double the size of China’s economy by 2035 -- suggesting he planned to remain in power for the foreseeable future.

“The old Chinese system, which was by no means a democracy, still guaranteed enough debate, and play, and openness because there was a regular rotation of leadership,” Clinton said. “Now that it appears that a person is in charge of China who intends to stay there for life, in essence, that changes things. But we shouldn’t accept or assume that it’s all going to be bad without working to make it better.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-17/bill-clinton-says-china-s-direction-under-xi-upended-u-s-ties?srnd=premium

[soryang]

1. I don't consider this article particularly insightful

it repeats a number of ethnocentric cliches such that China would or should liberalize.

Why, so they could open up their internal markets and society to western financial exploitation and political destabilization?

It is so presumptuous to think that the Chinese people would be "better off" with a western liberal democracy.

In fact this is just a pretext for western interference in their internal affairs to advance their own interests.