President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have offered friendly public displays during Xi’s state visit to Washington.
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Trump → offer → Washington
Once again, however, the Chinese delegation traveling with Xi has shown its practiced disdain for local customs and etiquette.
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delegation → travel → customs
This impoliteness reflects the Chinese Communist Party’s demand for absolute loyalty to Xi and its respect only for enforced boundaries.
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impoliteness → reflect → boundaries
Numerous videos on Thursday showed a Chinese state media press officer shouting at White House staff and the U.S. Secret Service.
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officer → show → staff
The official sought to bully U.S. officials into giving Chinese photographers the best positions to capture Trump and Xi’s arrival.
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official → seek → Trump
Under diplomatic protocol, the positions assigned to U.S. and foreign media are agreed upon long before the event.
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positions → assign → event
The official would have known this, just as he knew his demands would have restricted U.S. media access.
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demands → know → access
But what China agrees to on paper, it always seeks to renegotiate in practice.
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it → agree → practice
The Chinese media delegation later barged its way through American journalists in the White House.
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delegation → barge → House
The public nature of democratic societies means that when Chinese officials act rudely, it is noticed.
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it → mean → societies
As with social media posts about the White House’s incivility, foreign public attention then reinforces negative opinions of China abroad.
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attention → reinforce → China
Following Xi’s 2015 state visit to the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II was introduced to a police officer responsible for his security.
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II → follow → security
The queen stated, “Bad luck,” adding that the Chinese had been “very rude.”
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Chinese → state → luck
The police officer informed the queen that a Chinese delegation had stormed out of a planning meeting, threatening to cancel the entire visit, in protest over how far away protesters would be kept from Xi.
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protesters → inform → Xi
At the 2018 APEC summit in Papua New Guinea, four Chinese diplomats forced their way into the office of that country’s foreign minister after he had refused to meet them.
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he → force → them
The diplomats had to be removed by security.
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diplomats → have → security
Later in 2018, a Chinese reporter for the country’s preeminent (and aptly named) CCTV state broadcaster was arrested after assaulting a participant at the U.K. Conservative Party’s annual political conference.
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reporter → name → conference
Far from being criticized for bringing dishonor to China, the reporter was widely praised back home.
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reporter → criticize → China
The Chinese Embassy also showed no contrition, blaming the Conservative Party for the incident.
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Embassy → show → incident
Chinese diplomats are also often deployed to harass human rights protesters abroad.
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diplomats → deploy → protesters
We saw this in Washington on Thursday, when masked men photographed and attempted to intimidate protesters and reporters outside Xi’s hotel.
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men → see → hotel
They want those protesting to fear that they, or their family members, will be put on a list.
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they → want → list
Similarly, in 2022, a Chinese consul physically attacked protesters in Manchester, England.
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consul → attack → Manchester
Last year, a top Chinese diplomat in Japan even threatened to behead Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
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diplomat → threaten → Takaichi
These antics seem astonishing to Western observers.
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antics → seem → observers
And there’s no question that they undermine China’s claim to seek only “win-win cooperation” with the world.
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they → ’ → world
The party is what matters, not the person or people.
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what → matter → ?
If it offends Americans, Britons, Papua New Guineans, or, indeed, the world?
So be it.
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it → offend → Americans
The Aporia
