Xi asks powerful nations not to bully the weak

Blurb: PM Modi to speak at World Economic Forum on Thursday

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 25

In a speech that bristled with irony, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called upon the world’s powerful nations not to bully the weak. The Chinese President was speaking a day after India and China held a marathon meeting of its military commanders to resolve the unilateral ingress by Chinese troops over six months ago.

“The strong should not bully the weak. Decisions should not be made by simply showing strong muscles or waving a big fist. Multilateralism should not be used as a pretext for acts of unilateralism. … Selective multilateralism should not be our option,” Xi said while speaking at the World Economic Forum being held virtually.

“History and reality have made it clear time and again that the misguided approach of antagonism and confrontation, be it in the form of cold war, hot war, trade war or tech war will eventually hurt all countries’ interests and undermine everyone’s well-being,” said Xi.

The Chinese President batted for an open world economy and taking down barriers to trade and investment otherwise “the world will fall back to the law of the jungle and the consequence would be devastating for humanity.’’