China expert Gordon Chang says the U.S. should pay attention to Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech earlier this week at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) where he said he opposes "decoupling and breaking links" and called for opposing hegemonism and power politics and making the system of global governance fairer and more equitable.
"We must persist in thinking and handling military issues from a political perspective, dare to fight, be good at fighting and resolutely defend our national sovereignty, security and development interests," Xi said.
Chang said Friday during an appearance on Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight": "This one worries me. Of course, Xi Jinping has been talking like this for some time, but he's certainly stepped up the pace and at the Eastern Theater Command, which by the way is the command that would lead the invasion of Taiwan or Japan.
"These words matter. And while he was saying these words, we had Chinese vessels trying to break apart the Philippines at Reed Bank. This is serious because this is a replay of certain activities that China has had in grabbing parts of the Philippines. This comes at a really critical time," he added.
The SCO is a political and security union of countries spanning much of Eurasia, including China, India and Russia.
Formed in 2001 by Russia, China and former Soviet states in Central Asia, the body has been expanded to include India and Pakistan, with a view to playing a bigger role as counterweight to Western influence in the region.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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