Darrell Castle talks about the state visit to Moscow by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping.

Transcription/Notes

CAN CHINA BE ACCEPTED AS PEACEMAKER?

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 24th day of March in the year of our Lord 2023 and I will be talking about the state visit to Moscow of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. It seems like an unlikely time for a state visit since his host Vladimir Putin has an international warrant through the ICC pending against him for war crimes, but nevertheless they met in Moscow.

Yes, the media is full of stories and reports that the Hague-based International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The reports are probably intended to add gravitas to what is otherwise a meaningless gesture and just more political theater. The warrant on its face is ridiculous because Putin is accused of war crimes for evacuating children from a war zone to safety in Russia.

I believe the United States did the same thing in Vietnam evacuating children and bringing them to the U.S. Many of those children later returned to their homeland. In Afghanistan the United States evacuated wounded children from the war zone when Russia spent its 10 years there. The children were treated for their wounds in the U.S. and later returned unless they desired to remain. In England, many British children were evacuated to Canada to avoid Nazi bombing of London during the blitz,

For those reasons and because no warrants have been forthcoming for the Nord Stream Pipeline bombing or for the invasion of Iraq and other countries I believe it’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Nevertheless at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow last Monday and stayed through Wednesday. A grand welcoming ceremony was held for Xi’s arrival with lots of praise heaped on Xi by Putin.

Mr. Putin wrote an article for the People’s Daily entitled “Russia and China-A Partnership Looking to the Future.” In that article he said, “We have high expectations for the upcoming talks. We have no doubt that they will give a powerful new impetus to the entire range of bilateral cooperation. It is also a great opportunity for me to see a good old friend with whom we have the warmest relationship.” He went on to add that there exists a special relationship in the Russian Chinese partnership which has always been built on mutual trust, and respect for each other’s sovereignty and interests.

From Xi’s standpoint he noted that China and Russia are friendly neighbors connected by shared mountains and rivers. The two countries according to Xi have consolidated and grown the bilateral relationship on the basis of no-alliance, no-confrontation and not targeting any third party, and they have set a fine example of developing a relationship featuring mutual respect and peaceful coexistence. There are some important code words in Xi’s statement if one takes a minute to decipher them.

Both Russia and China understand that the United States is their chief rival and probable enemy in the upcoming World War that grows more likely by the day. Despite that realization there has been no announced mutual defense treaty. There has been no announced effort to include or recruit other like-minded countries into a military alliance. Iran would be an obvious choice especially since the Chinese brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia effectively removed the Saudis from the sphere of U.S. control.

The Chinese recently issued a paper to help explain it entitled “US Hegemony and its Perils.” The paper takes the position that the US, since the end of the cold war, has overstepped its position as world leader. Since the US emerged from the two world wars and the cold war as world leader it has been unwilling to accept the sovereignty and equality of other nations. In pursuit of world hegemony, the US has been overriding truth with its power...