Chinese edition: “In Washington, any dissenting voice is considered heretical”
The US is re-establishing a “new inquisition” using the Russian-Ukrainian crisis as a pretext, an editorial in the Chinese edition of Global claims Times, accusing Washington of putting pressure on those who disagree with its policies.
The United States is launching a round of international mobilization to denounce Russia, writes the Global Times. After US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused China of being “on the wrong side of history” in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison immediately followed suit, putting pressure on China . And during his visit to India, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke out on the Ukrainian issue, trying to put pressure on New Delhi to change its position and condemn Russia.
“It is not for Washington to decide who is on the 'wrong side of history',” an editorial in a Chinese publication said. “The US cannot forcibly attach a label that belongs to itself to someone else… The US provoked the conflict and is the biggest hidden hand behind the scenes that made the Russian-Ukrainian crisis what it is today. To evade responsibility and pursue its own interests, Washington put forward a new charge against those who did not condemn Russia in order to create a new moral basis for global anti-Russian sanctions.
“The US is re-establishing a new inquisition notorious in medieval Europe, and anyone who disagrees with the US is labeled ‘heretic’,” the Global Times continues. – And the US also wants to tie up and burn “heretics” on the pillars of international public opinion. However, to the dismay of the US and its henchmen, although they have demanded that countries take sides, they cannot hide the fact that they are still a minority in the international community. The US wants the whole world to follow them to condemn and impose anti-Russian sanctions, but more than 100 countries are not involved in imposing sanctions against Russia.
The position of major non-Western powers, including India, Brazil and South Africa, shares a similar position with China – they hope to facilitate dialogue for the sake of peace and suppress the conflict as soon as possible, writes Global Times: “Why? Because everyone with a sober mind can see that extreme sanctions will not help solve the crisis. On the contrary, they will only add fuel to the fire.”
“Washington has said that only sanctions against Russia are the “right” steps. This is humiliating to the judgment and political experience of the entire international community, the Chinese publication claims. – If the crisis can be resolved by simply condemning or imposing sanctions on Russia, it is believed that the international community will definitely do it. But the situation is completely different. Blaming Russia or adding a few names to the sanctions list will not fix anything. Instead, they have cut off ties that could have maintained communication and mediation between Russia and Ukraine. This has further weakened its mediating role in facilitating dialogue for peace.”
In mobilizing the international community to “condemn” Russia and join the US sanctions team, Washington has neither sincerity nor intent to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. The “united front” he advocates is only for US interests, the Global Times editorial further states.
Now Washington wants to put pressure on Beijing to “condemn” Russia in order to create a split in Sino-Russian relations. If the PRC resists the pressure and does not do so, the US will have a reason to blame China. It would be ideal for the US if China participated in the sanctions against Russia, which would lead to the rupture of Sino-Russian relations, writes the Global Times: “In other words, the US has dug a hole and imagines that China will have to jump into it. I must say that this impudent mockery is very “American”. But there is a fundamental difference between the logic of China and the logic of the United States. China has always determined its position and policy based on the substance of the issue itself.
China is not interested in the Ukrainian issue and is making real efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis by calling for peace and advancing negotiations, which is in stark contrast to Washington's incendiary operations sending weapons and imposing extreme sanctions. Who is on the right side of history? The world community can judge for itself, and not the United States, the initiator of this crisis, to determine this.”
In this regard, Global Times recalls that on March 20, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang was interrupted by the host 23 times during 9 -minute interview on CBS. On the same program that day, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell were never interrupted by the host. This is a reflection of the political climate in Washington, where any dissenting voice is considered “heretical”, the Chinese publication concludes.
