The US wants to teach life to everyone again. Russia and China are specially invited
The new administration in Washington should be given its due: the idea of holding such an event is quite ingenious, since it is aimed at killing not even two, but a dozen birds with one stone.
Focusing on the climate agenda allows Democrats to highlight a break with the policies of the previous president, who in every possible way expressed disregard for environmental issues. Following the return of the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement, from which Trump pulled the country out, Joe Biden will have the opportunity to demonstrate at the summit that the United States is ready to go further and once again assume the role of world leader on this issue.
At the same time, climate issues have long become a stranglehold, with the help of which Americans and Europeans are trying to restrain the development of their competitors, both economic and geopolitical. Moreover, in the modern world, where the West is rapidly losing its dominant position, the topic of ecology remains one of the few that it still maintains a monopoly on and, as a result, seeks to use to the maximum. For example, in 2023, the EU will introduce a carbon tax on imported products with high greenhouse gas emissions. These include, among other things, oil, gas, metals, fertilizers, cement – in general, a significant part of Russian exports, which will become a serious challenge for domestic producers.
However, in addition to the global long-term aspects, the upcoming summit also has operational ones, from which the White House seeks to derive maximum benefit for itself.
The invitation to participate in the summit came to the Russian and Chinese leaders at a time when not only relations between the two countries with the West are at their lowest point in many decades, but when international relations are undergoing tremendous – and unkind – changes, when ideas about the possible, the appropriate and due to them.
There is nothing special in the fact that there are tough friction between states on some issues and productive cooperation on others. On the contrary, this is quite normal. But what is happening now goes far beyond the traditions that have developed over centuries. The Russian Foreign Minister, commenting on recent events, said that the West simply “forgot how to use classical diplomacy”, which is “the ability to listen to each other, the ability to hear each other and the ability to find a balance of interests”.
And if Joe Biden’s amazing statements about the Russian president during the interview can still be explained by the individual characteristics of the American president, then the violation of protocol and the open rudeness of the US Secretary of State towards China at a bilateral meeting in Anchorage cannot be interpreted otherwise than the deliberate policy of Washington.
The situation for the PRC is all the more unpleasant, since with the arrival of a new president to the White House, hopes were pinned on curtailing or at least softening the anti-Chinese course of the previous president. And Joe Biden himself announced his intention to move away from Trump conflicts to “extreme competition” in relations with Beijing.
But so far the situation has only worsened. Moreover, if Trump played mainly on the economic field, in particular, by introducing protective duties on Chinese goods, then the Democrats have straddled their favorite hobbyhorse of the only true ideology and are again eager to teach others about democracy, human rights and environmental responsibility.
A new wave of accusations fell on China, where the main blow is now being dealt on the Uyghur topic. Beijing does not remain in debt, as a result of which a new flywheel of mutual sanctions is spinning – the United States out of habit called the Chinese retaliatory measures baseless. Moreover, the most serious consequences threaten not even the officials who were blacklisted, but the brands that supported the anti-Chinese campaign. H&M, Nike and Adidas are on the verge of losing a giant market.
The climate summit being organized here plays into Washington’s hands also because environmental protection is part of the basic set of values and clichés of the liberal-globalist ideology and thereby provides additional leverage over opponents. Accordingly, by inviting them to the event, the US administration is trying to present the Russian and Chinese authorities in all respects to a losing situation.
If Putin and Xi ignore the conference, they can be accused of irresponsibility, disregard for the interests of humanity and their own countries, and at the same time of cowardice: they say, they did not dare to participate in the event just because it was organized by the United States.
If the Russian and Chinese leaders take part in the summit, there is no doubt that the Americans will do everything possible to demonstrate their superiority and even create some humiliating situation for Moscow and Beijing. After the scandalous negotiations in Alaska, one simply cannot count on the observance of the diplomatic protocol by the United States, and the online format with live broadcast will all the more provide Washington, as the organizer, with a lot of opportunities for piggy tricks.
However, in its cunning plan, the United States missed one very important aspect. With its latest actions, the West has secured the consolidation of the Russian-Chinese alliance. Sergey Lavrov’s recent visit to China has demonstrated this as clearly as possible.
So, Russia and China will oppose any intrigues and traps of Washington together, which may lead to unpleasant surprises for the Americans themselves.
Irina Alksnis, RIA