Xi calls efforts to reshape other nations ‘foolish’

Chinese President Xi Jinping denounced as “foolish” foreign efforts to reshape other nations as he pushes back against U.S. trade demands.

“To think that one’s own race and civilization are superior to others, and to insist on transforming or even replacing other civilizations, is foolish in understanding and disastrous in practice,” Xi said yesterday at the opening ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations in Beijing. He made no direct mention of the trade dispute or the U.S. in his remarks.

Xi’s speech at the regional gathering was closely watched since it was his first address since the U.S. proposed billions of dollars of fresh tariffs on Chinese goods. His sentiments were likely to resonate for an audience including representatives from several former colonies, and the crowd applauded after his “foolish” remark.

“Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations should be reciprocal and equal,” Xi said. “They should be diversified and multidirectional, rather than compulsory or coercive. They should not be one-way.”

The presidents of Greece, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Armenia and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni are attending this week’s forum. China has invested in Sri Lanka and Cambodia under Xi’s Belt and Road trade and infrastructure program. Bloomberg