The Chinese government wants the whole world to believe that its actions on its territory are not the concern of any country, that it is exclusively internal matters. Nothing more wrong.
No more than parents who mistreat their children at home can not plead that it is a question of domestic problems, therefore exempt from criticism and the law.
Of course, the Chinese government is sovereign. No one can put him in jail or take away the rule of the Chinese. But the whole world sees.
And the whole world can criticize Xi Jinping and his policies.
Just as the whole world sees the problems that tear the United States apart and can criticize stupid American policies on guns, on voting restrictions or on the redistribution of wealth.
Yet America’s leaders have never asked others to shut up in the face of their bad policies. Neither have they sanctioned those who exercise their freedom of expression by criticizing them.
False excuse
But Xi Jinping would like everyone to be silent when he crushes the democratic movement in Hong Kong, when he unleashes genocidal policies towards minorities or when China is carving out new territory for itself from the international waters of the Pacific.
These are internal affairs, he repeats. The excuse is convenient, but false.
Often, Chinese propaganda soldiers launch personal insults against those who dare to publicly criticize Xi Jinping’s policies. Or, they defend themselves by accusing other countries of having previously committed crimes and conquered territory.
However, the bad behavior of other countries does not excuse that of China. Just as a female drummer cannot justify himself in court by arguing that other men are also female drummers.
No more internal affairs
China has become the largest economy on the planet. Whether the Chinese leaders like it or not, what happens in China reverberates around the world. In this sense, China no longer has internal affairs. Just like the United States no longer has internal affairs.
At the end of the day, the Chinese government sometimes claims that people misunderstand the situation in China. But the Chinese leaders need only blame themselves. Never since the Maoist era has Chinese policy been so opaque as it is now. Chinese citizens have never been so afraid to speak out.
Xi Jinping would like to kill criticism outside China as he killed it at home. It will not happen. On the contrary, the more he tries to silence her, the more virulent she will be.
The Chinese who are forced to endure such a dictator are to be pitied. Can we even imagine what China would be capable of if its men and women were free? Humanity is losing a lot.