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How China misses great chances to prove its great status
China misses two opportunities to show that its grand rhetoric about being a force for good for the whole of humanity is truly matched with actions.
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'No threat': Police detain a woman (center) outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court in Hong Kong on Nov. 19. ( AFP/Peter Parks)
J
ust recently China missed two opportunities to show that its grand rhetoric about being a force for good for the whole of humanity is truly matched with actions.
First the sentencing of 45 citizens of Hong Kong whose only fault was an endless love for their own land, an integral territory of the People’s Republic of China. Their only fault was an enduring belief that Hong Kong could really become a beacon of democracy and civil and political rights.
They were no radicals; they were neither a threat to Beijing nor to the local authorities governing what was supposed to be an autonomous territory with special rights and guarantees under China’s sovereignty.
The second missed opportunity is related to the recently concluded COP29 climate negotiations in Baku, where China stood a great chance of stepping up and showing moral and political leadership to the whole planet. It tragically failed.
Beijing should have given up its objection to being regarded as a developed nation and therefore making a difference in terms of climate finance. It simply shielded itself from the responsibility that comes when it truly leads the world.
In fact, there has been a ruckus about the lack of commitment by developed nations, essentially the Group of Seven (G7) and few other peers like Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
But let’s return to Hong Kong.
