Xi Versus Trump on “World Peace”
US actions trump Chinese slogans
Peace is in the air! President Trump campaigned in 2024 as a peacemaker and is delivering the bacon despite US media claims that his only motivation is to secure a Nobel Peace Prize (see here and here). Those claims ring hollow, as the selection process has been thoroughly politicized in recent years as described here, and thus it is highly unlikely that President Trump would ever be selected given those biases. Surely Trump knows that, and thus he soldiers on and exposes the meaningless nature of the Prize these days. After all, he is racking up the wins, and any of these accomplishments might qualify for a Nobel Peace Prize in a rational world: preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, obtaining an Israel-Iran ceasefire in one day, brokering a Serbia-Kosovo agreement, facilitating the end of the 30-year-long Rwanda-Congo war, obtaining the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire, and orchestrating the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace framework.
These are concrete actions in achieving real peace taken by a real leader for all the world to see.
Meanwhile, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who has made no secret of his desire to displace the US as the world’s hegemon, resorts to platitudes and soothing words as he sprinkles sugary speeches about world peace, hither thither and yon. Surely he must get in the peace game in some way to remain relevant on the world diplomatic stage! Are there any actual kinetic wars or armed conflicts in which he has successfully interceded to obtain a peaceful settlement, or does he merely speak words of peace with Chinese characteristics?
Let us examine the topic.
COMMUNIST CHINA PREACHES PEACE
Xi Jinping has long preached about China’s “great rejuvenation” by 2028 and a “new era” for socialism with Chinese characteristics. Chinese Communist Party propaganda holds that China will inevitably assume a central role in global governance in a multipolar world through the grandiose Global Security Initiative (GSI) which promotes principles such as peacefully resolving disputes through dialogue and respecting national and cultural differences. The latter is the CCP’s ongoing psychological warfare aimed at fundamentally equating Beijing’s authoritarian rule with democratically elected governments around the world. This obfuscates the fact that the Chinese people have no say in their government whatsoever, and the CCP’s equivocation is thus just another lie.
That simple fact has never impeded Xi from uttering nonsensical peace-laden phrases, for example:
History has also told us to preserve peace with great care, as peace, like air and sunshine, is hardly noticed when people benefit from it, but none of us can live without it. – China Daily, 8 May [https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202505/08/WS681bf613a310a04af22bdff9.html ]
Only by working together can countries maintain world peace and stability and promote global development and prosperity – Global Times, 13 May [https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202505/1333931.shtml ]
Xi’s minion Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on 26 June that “China firmly embraces a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and advocates resolving differences and disagreements through equal consultation, safeguarding common interests in mutually beneficial cooperation, and contributing to each other's development by generating more growth.” [https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202506/1337070.shtml ]
And sure enough, the predictable communist Chinese generated a white paper in May that lays out China’s “arc of historical inevitability” with these words: “China was born 5,000 years ago; China has risen from the brink of death through the Party’s shouldering of the historic mission; China will come again, providing ‘new concepts and methods’ (新理念、新办法) for bringing about a secure and peaceful world.” It’s all about reinforcing another of Xi’s oft-repeated banalities – building a community with a shared future for humanity.
What do all these platitudes really mean, and has communist China ever facilitated true peace agreements under the auspices of the Global Security Initiative and the even more grandiose Global Civilization Initiative? The reality is that Chinese motivations for engaging in any peace talks as mediators have to do with self-interest, especially in terms of strategic geopolitical and economic competition with the US and the West. For example, the CCP engages in regional security issues in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands in ways that enhance China’s economic engagement and diplomatic prestige in those regions.
The only qualified success that China has had on the peace front was to achieve a breakthrough that reestablished diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March 2023. Talks had been ongoing for years, and China merely stepped in as mediator at Saudi Arabia’s request in the latter stages of discussions to host the final meeting in Beijing and seal the deal. The deal benefitted China and smoothed the way for uninterrupted Iranian oil shipments to China. Note that Iran exports 90% of its oil to China while Iranian oil accounts for nearly 14% of China’s oil imports. And yet for all the trade and partnership with Iran in recent years, Xi Jinping was relegated to a spectator as the Israel-Iran war played out and President Trump brokered the ceasefire after a precision B-2 strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The other marginal Chinese success has been to mediate a ceasefire in peace talks between the Myanmar military and various rebel groups in northern Myanmar back in January.
That is pretty thin gruel considering ongoing Chinese belligerence and intimidation in the West Philippine Sea (Zambales Province in February), Senkaku Islands (first CCG helicopter in Japanese airspace in May), South China Sea (Iroquois Reef on 20 June), and Yellow Sea (Provisional Measures Zone on 25 June). All these actions are intended to extend the boundaries of China’s economic and security hegemony in the region.
This is the actual meaning of peace with Chinese characteristics, apparently.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
While Xi has preached peace and building shared futures and global cooperation ad nauseum for over a decade, in eight short months, President Trump has taken concrete actions to actually achieve peace around the world:
India-Pakistan. President Trump helped avert a nuclear war between the two countries in May.
Israel-Iran. In May, Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in their 12-day war after President Trump ordered a B-2 airstrike that destroyed three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Congo-Rwanda. A peace accord was signed in the White House on 27 June that ended 30 years of war between the two countries.
Cambodia-Thailand. Trump intervened during deadly border clashes, speaking with leaders of both nations and pushing for a ceasefire, with Malaysia mediating, and brokered a ceasefire agreement in July.
Armenia-Azerbaijan. In August, Trump hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House, culminating in a "historic joint declaration for peace" after over 35 years of conflict, including the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
President Trump is also personally involved in negotiations to end the Hamas-Israel conflict, as well as the ongoing Russo-Ukrainians war.
The contrast between the two leaders could not be clearer; the world knows the difference between Xi’s words and Trump’s actions.
The end.