US-China relations: Xi Jinping ups rhetorical ante as Donald Trump and Joe Biden both compete to talk tough
- The Chinese leader’s verbal assault on US imperialism in a speech to mark the country’s entry into the Korean war coincided with the presidential debate
- Both candidates have promised to take a tough stance on China and one observer warned that Xi’s intervention might backfire
As the US presidential candidates sparred over how to counter China, the country’s leader Xi Jinping was making clear that a newly emboldened country would not back down from a fight.
In a speech marking the 70th anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean war – the only military conflict between Chinese and American forces – Xi outlined in no uncertain terms that the “century of humiliation” Beijing said it suffered at the hands of Western aggressors was long gone.
“The grand spirit of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea spans across time and space, becoming more resolute with the passing of time, and must be passed on forever and carried forth from generation to generation,” he said.
“No matter the country, no matter the military, no matter how powerful, if they are standing in opposition to the world’s trends, bullying the world’s weak, trying to turn back history, engage in aggression and expansion, this will inevitably lead to bloodshed.”
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Xi Jinping says ‘Chinese people will not bend’ in Korean war anniversary speech
His antagonistic rhetoric coincided with fiery exchanges across the Pacific between Donald Trump and Joe Biden from the debate stage in the southern US state of Tennessee about how to counter China.