The most powerful men in the world do not talk about us when they meet in Beijing. They ignore democracy and global challenges. Strength seems to prove them right, but only because we have not yet regained faith in ourselves.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the two most powerful men in the world, do not think about us. During the two days they spent together in Beijing, they smiled a lot and were showered with praise, but they said nothing in favor of a better, less violent, and more sensible world. Not a word about how to face global challenges, from supply chains to the climate crisis. Nothing, either, about human rights. They say they talked a lot about everything but agreed on nothing. They did not say a single word in favor of humanity, no hopeful message even if it were a lie.
Read more Nixon in China
Trump was looking for a gesture from Xi to open Hormuz, but it was not so. A single word from the Chinese president would be enough for the ayatollahs to yield, but this order was not given. Hormuz remains closed.
Xi assures Trump he will not take Taiwan by force and Trump tells him he will stay out of it
Xi, for his part, did get what he wanted from Trump, nothing less than the commitment that he will not defend Taiwan. There has been no official announcement along these lines, nor will there be, but it is evident. Since the day Trump decided that America was for the Americans, that is, the United States citizens, the Chinese understood that Taiwan and its zone of influence in the Pacific was theirs. If Trump kept the Panama Canal, as well as Venezuela and Cuba, China could do the same with Taiwan and the disputed islands with Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Trump does not care. He keeps on hold an arms order that Taiwan needs to renew its defenses, today unable to withstand a Chinese offensive. The order is valued at 14 billion dollars, but for once it seems Trump does not want to do business. No, at least not at the expense of his “great friend” Xi, who must have assured him that he will not take the island by force.
Xi and Trump have not talked about us, but about themselves. They have divided their zones of influence and said nothing about Ukraine either. If Iran is at the mercy of China because it buys almost all its oil from it, Russia is even more so. Putin could not sustain the invasion of Ukraine without Xi’s support, and the bad news for Europe is that Trump seems fine with this alliance. He would prefer Putin to win the war and for the European Union to disintegrate.
So, if the most powerful men in the world do not talk about us, who does? Our leaders talk a lot, but they do not convince us. They are always in election campaigns, promising what is hard to fulfill and making decisions that do not help the European common good.
The Xi and Trump meeting reveals the weakness of a Europe that forgets itself
Europe, to begin with, does not have a common policy with China. European presidents and prime ministers frequently visit Beijing but to talk about their own interests, not ours.
Read more In Search of Winners at the Ópera XXI
Pedro Sánchez, for example, allows China to open car factories in Spain to avoid EU tariffs on its electric cars. Sánchez, therefore, introduces a Trojan horse into Europe that could destroy the European automotive industry. This industry is a pillar of the German economy, which is the engine of Europe. If Europe had a common policy with China, it could negotiate from unity, that is, from a much stronger position. In exchange for greater access to the European market, Brussels, for example, could demand a ceasefire in Ukraine from Beijing. The Chinese government would do the math and surely respond with a counterproposal, but the relationship would be more balanced. However, since this is not the case, each country goes its own way and Russia persists.
Germany understands that manufacturing cars is no longer so beneficial and bets on the arms business. This year it has approved spending close to 83 billion euros, 15% of the federal budget. By 2031, Germany will not only have the most powerful army in Europe but also the industry that will make it possible. This industry and this army will be German first and only then European. Today, the neo-Nazi party Alternative for Germany is the most popular political force. It would get the vote of one in three voters. What will Alternative for Germany do with the most powerful army in Europe if it ever takes power?
Since answering this question is a bit scary, we should talk about our own matters, about what happens to us and what suits us best, that is, about everything that neither Xi nor Trump nor our saddened European leaders talk about.
If we live surrounded by strong men who go their own way, it is because no one pays attention anymore to what we are, that is, citizens of a liberal democracy. This implies being free, that is, having the necessary freedom to voluntarily become what we want to be. It also means being generous. The free man in ancient Greece also had to be generous. My freedom, after all, cannot be at the expense of anyone else’s. This generosity fosters tolerance towards others, that is, fraternity, living together. Fraternity is the link between freedom and equality. Since the French Revolution of 1789, these three words define European democratic societies. This is what we are, even if it does not seem so.
That is why, when the most powerful men in the world ignore us and when our rulers are also unable to value us, we have no choice but to be the ones, the donnadies, who raise our voices to say that there can be no future without us, without free and generous men.
Read more Yamal, Israel and everything depends
