When President Xi Jinping of China made his first state visit to the United States in 2015, he wrapped his demands for respect in reassurances.
He denied that China was militarizing the disputed South China Sea, while asserting its maritime claims there.
He spoke hopefully of a “new model” for great power relations, in which Beijing and Washington would coexist peacefully as equals.
In Mr. Xi’s telling, China sought to rise peacefully, but Western powers would not accept the idea that a Communist-led China was catching up and could someday overtake them in global primacy.
The West would never stop trying to derail China’s ascent and topple its Communist Party, he said in speeches to the military that are largely unreported by the media.
Persons:
Xi Jinping, Xi, Xi’s
Organizations:
People’s, Army, Communist Party
Locations:
China, United States, reassurances, Beijing, Washington, Communist