There was a lot of “soul-searching” by the global plutocrats at the 47th World Economic Forum at Davos this year, says Philip Aldrick in The Times. The tone of business leaders was defensive and “a little guilty” in the wake of Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump. Yet behind it all lay a “deep anxiety that the world is at an inflection point”.
This was at its “most apparent” in a speech given by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in which he positioned China, “one of the most closed countries in the world, as the saviour of globalisation and the free markets – and the Davos crowd swallowed it whole”. In contrast to Trump’s “flagrant xenophobia”, Xi made an appeal for “openness” and “inclusiveness”, says Jean-Pierre Lehmann in Forbes. “Pursuing protectionism,” declared Xi, “is like locking oneself in a dark room. Wind and rain may be kept outside, but so are light and air.”
Xi is an “unlikely apostle of globalisation”, says Andrew Browne in The Wall Street Journal. His vaunted “global connectivity” goes “only so far at home” where a “towering internet firewall keeps out subversive Western doctrines”. The “investment liberalisation” he urged “flies in the face” of China’s vigorous efforts to “quarantine” its technology markets to “protect homegrown corporate champions”.
Nevertheless, continues Browne, China views Trump’s drift towards isolationism as a “heaven-sent opportunity” and we can expect plenty of “market-opening moves, overseas-aid packages and international investments” from China in the coming months. On Monday a Foreign Ministry official said that China was prepared to “take the helm of the global economy”, just a few hours before Trump handed China the “controls” in Asia by formally withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Some in Trump’s camp are “calling China out for hypocrisy”, yet in this era, perception matters more than facts. As Trump spoke darkly of “American carnage”, Xi took the opposite approach. “History is created by the brave,” he said. “Let us boost confidence, take actions and march arm-in-arm towards a bright future.” In China’s view, America is “squandering its most precious asset – soft power”. The party propagandists can hardly believe their luck.