Say hello to the new multilateral boss

In times of grave geopolitical trouble, it’s up for a true statesman to step up in the global podium and defuse a noxious Cold War 2.0 atmosphere. President Xi Jinping did deliver with his keynote speech at the annual Boao Forum in Hainan. 

Here’s the full speech. And let’s start with a single sentence: “As we are going through the Covid-19 pandemic, people of all countries have more clearly realized that it is necessary to abandon the cold-war mentality and zero-sum game, and oppose any form of new cold war and ideological confrontation.” 

The Boao audience, in a sort of Sino-Davos gathering, was composed not only of pan-Asian guests. Significantly, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman and Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio, among others, were giving Xi their full attention. 

In a relatively compact speech, Xi once again exposed the architecture of multilateralism – and how China with its renewed superpower status fits in. The message may have been subtly directed to the United States, but most of all to a fast integrating Eurasia, as well as the whole Global South.  

Xi emphasized multilateralism as the realm of justice, not hegemony, featuring “extensive consultation,” big countries behaving “in a manner befitting their status and with a greater sense of responsibility,” and all that leading to “shared benefits,” not the welfare of the 0.001%.