You could probably tweak the comments by Xi and, with some degree of artistic license notwithstanding, come up with a Chinese version of ‘make America great again’.

We need to distinguish fact from value. We need to disentangle the ‘what is’ from the ‘how we would like things to be’. IMHO too much of the below the line comments here get values mixed up with facts. That is, people insert in their comments value judgements which, obviously, are skewed to their own preferences. Okay, I am guilty of that as well.

I guess my point is, that if we want to understand how states behave in the international context we have to adopt the attitude of ‘a curious observer’, free from any emotional connection with the topic, free from any bias that is politically, culturally, or socially generated. I come from a background of what you might call political realism. States can be understood from the maxim that the pursuit of power determines a state’s behaviour.

Xi’s comments are as meaningless as were Trumps, and as are Bidens. The Chinese government face exactly the same issues that we in the West face. How to control and manage a domestic population and their expectations.

I’m reminded of Mayor Quimby (from the Simpsons). ‘Feed em fish and they clap like seals’. It’s all smoke and mirrors, people.

(I think I lost where I was going a bit there)