Chinese Vice Premier Liu He’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was notable for its dishonesty and subterfuge. It is reminiscent of writer and political activist Mary McCarthy’s dismissal of fellow writer Lillian Hellman when she said, “Everything she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.'” Liu essentially argued that ” China is back”. He said China welcomes the return of foreign investment, arguing that investors should be optimistic about China’s economy due to reforms and an end to the emphasis on Xi Jinping’s ideology rather than economic prosperity.
Liu also suggested that China’s economic growth will return to “normal” in 2023 and that China is a supporter of the international order and the environment.
In reality, China’s economy is in the tank due to anemic economic growth — about 3 percent — reflecting deep structural problems in the economy, demographic decline, a real estate downturn, US pressure on the tech sector, investor concerns about the Communist Party Party of China (CCP) ) influence and viability of alternatives such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam. The main cause of the downturn was the COVID-19 pandemic and the end of its “zero-COVID” policy, which allows the virus to spread through the community.
In China, business will always be under the influence of Xi and the CCP. The unfortunate case of Alibaba founder Jack Ma criticizing the country’s financial regulators shows that the party will not allow even a shred of independence from its control or any potential political rival emerging from the company or any other community. Instead of supporting the international order, Beijing is doing everything it can to weaken it and replace it with an order that Beijing defines and controls.
Liu’s statements on climate change, meanwhile, were a master class in deception. He said COVID-19 has exposed the “possible link between climate change and public health crises.” An honest man would be embarrassed and ashamed after speaking his words as the CCP’s actions guaranteed that the virus outbreak became a pandemic by deceiving global health authorities like the World Health Organization and health authorities in other countries.
In conclusion, it is likely that everything Liu said was a lie. His speech should be viewed as an information operation aimed at shaping a narrative to attract investment and diminish recognition of China as a threat, no doubt because the party has a clear understanding of its vulnerabilities and is concerned that elites in the global economy are being mobilized against it The forum could pose a serious threat to their power.
Liu’s speech is indicative of the CCP’s weaknesses and weaknesses. China’s economic decline threatens Party control. The horrific impact of COVID on the Chinese people and the catastrophe of the “zero-COVID” policy – as last fall’s “blank page” protests demonstrated – threaten this control. The implications of these vulnerabilities are not only that the party sent Liu to Davos to spin a web of lies, they are far more powerful: they show that the regime is vulnerable and should be pushed to exploit these vulnerabilities.
A robust response from other countries to China’s expansion will increase pressure on the CCP to defeat it. This can be achieved by discouraging or prohibiting investment in China in favor of other countries or domestic production. Those who invest in China, take the CCP’s money, or allow it to raise capital in its markets should have an opportunity to explain why they support the CCP’s aggression and human rights abuses.
We must expose China’s human rights record and the Party’s gross human rights abuses against its citizens. Chinese officials like Liu should be held accountable in international forums rather than embraced for China’s hideous environmental record. The host should not let a Chinese official’s complaint about a link between climate change and global health crises go through without requiring him to address China’s own responsibility for creating the pandemic. In addition, states must pressure the party by addressing China’s atrocious human rights record and abuses against its religious and ethnic minorities, including in Tibet and Xinjiang.
Outside of China, domestic action — such as the new House of Representatives Committee on the China Threat chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) — is also needed. This committee can draw attention to the CCP’s aggression; his Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology, upheld by Xi, which is a major source of China’s warmongering; its gross human rights abuses; and China’s attacks on the American people through fentanyl and other means, and through technologies and apps like TikTok. Her investigations and testimonies can combat false narratives like Liu’s and explain to the American people why the CCP is their enemy and why all Americans should call the regime their enemy.
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Liu’s speech must be viewed as an attempt to deceive the world about the CCP and the true state of China’s economy and political stability, as well as an attempt to mislead the international community into believing that China has returned to a period of rapid economic growth. In fact, Liu’s remarks deeply revealed what China’s leaders fear.
Liu’s appearance in Davos should mark a turning point: the CCP’s human rights and environmental abuses and its aggression against states and the international order – the order that the World Economic Forum made possible – will no longer be tolerated. We must show the party that the world will not accept their mendacity.
Bradley A. Thayer is Director of China Policy at the Center for Security Policy and co-author of Understanding the China Threat.
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