Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping commanded the members of BRICS, a security and trade bloc designed to undermine the United States, on Monday to “jointly defend multilateralism” during a virtual summit.
Xi did not mention President Donald Trump or America by name, but condemned “trade wars and tariff wars waged by some country” in the official Chinese government translation of his statement. The virtual summit took place a little over two months after the annual in-person summit of BRICS leaders in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which Xi did not attend. It was called by the current head of the group, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who offered his own panicked address to the group on Monday urging them to help Brasilia as it faces growing trade tensions with Washington. Notably, Lula has repeatedly refused to call Trump to negotiate a more favorable trade agreement, declaring instead in August, “I will call Xi Jinping.”
BRICS is named after its core members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It also includes more recently added members Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Indonesia, and a host of rogue states such as Cuba, Belarus, and Uganda as second-tier “partner” associates. The Rio de Janeiro summit in June was marked by the absence of Xi and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, whose travel is limited by an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant on charges of war crimes.
Typically, experts consider Russia and especially China the most powerful members of BRICS, using the vehicle to unify policies that undermine the value of the American dollar and American geopolitical influence. Without Xi or Putin and under Lula’s leadership, however, the Rio de Janeiro summit resulted in a meandering joint statement that failed to directly challenge the United States, offering generalizations on the alleged “climate crisis” and “multilateralism” instead.
Xi’s remarks on Monday represented a retaking of the reins from Lula, despite the latter calling for the virtual summit. Xi emphasized in his comments the need to challenge American actions on the international stage under Trump’s leadership, even while only addressing the United States as “some country.”
“Hegemonism, unilateralism, and protectionism are getting more and more rampant,” Xi warned. “Trade wars and tariff wars waged by some country severely disrupt the world economy and undermine international trade rules.”
“At this critical juncture, BRICS countries [should]… jointly defend multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, advance greater BRICS cooperation, and build a community with a shared future for humanity,” the dictator commanded, using the phrase “community with a shared future” which the Chinese government describes as a “core concept” of “Xi Jinping Thought” — the dictator’s personal ideology.
Xi declared globalization “an irresistible trend of history” and issued a warning, apparently directed at the United States, that “no country can afford to retreat to self-imposed isolation.”
“We should promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, place development at the heart of our international agenda,” Xi concluded, “and ensure that Global South countries participate in international cooperation as equals and share in the fruits of development.”
Xi ended his statement by selling his “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), China’s debt trap scheme to ensnare and colonize poor countries.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry reinforced Xi’s comments during its regular briefing on Monday, again stopping short of identifying America as the target of his ire but nonetheless ominously lamenting “rising unilateralism and protectionism.”
“BRICS countries jointly safeguard multilateralism, defend fairness and justice, promote common development, and become a positive and stable force for good in international affairs,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian ordered in remarks to reporters, as translated by the Chinese government.
Xi’s authoritative address did not explicitly declare him the returning leader of BRICS, but China’s trusted commentators speaking to the state propaganda outlet Global Times made his intention clear in a report on his speech published on Monday.
“China plays a pivotal role in BRICS cooperation, not only guiding its direction but also advancing the mechanism by providing public goods and ideas to support the development of BRICS countries,” Chinese regime-friendly academic Wang Lei was quoted as saying.
Wang added that Beijing intended to “continue to uphold its leadership role” and credited the BRICS summit this week with helping “anchor the overall direction of BRICS,” suggesting that the global body had been unmoored.
“China has always played a crucial role in BRICS — not only as a source of key ideas but also as a driver of concrete cooperation,” Wang Lei added.
China was not present at the leadership level during the last BRICS in-person summit. Without it and Russia, and with Brazil at the helm, the 31-page “joint declaration” the group published offered indirect criticism on the issues of highest import to the world’s most powerful anti-American governments, notably omitting mention of America itself and failing to accusing Israel of “genocide” for its campaign against the terrorist organization Hamas, the latter an issue of critical import to member Iran. The statement condemned American and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, but did not identify the parties conducting them. Similarly, it condemned “unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures” without identifying who was using them.
Lula, whose country is among the most negatively affected by President Trump’s tariff policies as a result of his obstinate refusal to negotiate, convened the meeting, reportedly to discuss “the defense of multilateralism.” Lula offered the BRICS group a panicked, apocalyptic address on Monday in which he declared that the world was conducting a “formal burial” of universal economic rules.
“The pillars of the international order created in 1945 are being undermined at an accelerated and irresponsible rate,” Lula warned. “The World Trade Organization has been paralyzed for years. In just a few weeks, unilateral measures have transformed basic principles of free trade, such as Most Favored Nation and National Treatment clauses, into a dead letter. Now we are witnessing the formal burial of these principles.”
“Our countries are becoming victims of unjustified and illegal commercial practices. Tariff blackmail is being normalized as an instrument of conquest of markets and to interfere in domestic matters,” he continued. “The imposition of extraterritorial measures threatens our institutions. Secondary sanctions restrict our freedom to strengthen commerce with friendly countries. Divide and conquer is the strategy of unilateralism.”
The reference to “secondary sanctions” appeared to be an appeal to India, which President Trump threatened with sanctions in response to that country buying large amounts of Russian oil and, by doing so, funding the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Lula offered one compliment to Trump on the matter of Ukraine, however, stating that his in-person meeting with Putin in Alaska last month was a “step in the right direction.”
President Trump imposed a 50-percent tariff on Brazilian goods in July, drafting a strongly worded executive order that declared Brazil a “national security” threat over the persecution of prominent conservatives, most famously former President Jair Bolsonaro. The executive order also included a sanction on Alexandre de Moraes, the most powerful member of Brazil’s top court who has led multiple initiatives to persecute, imprison, and otherwise sanction conservatives.
“These judicial actions, taken under the pretext of combatting ‘disinformation,’ ‘fake news,’ or ‘anti-democratic’ or ‘hateful’ content, endanger the economy of the United States,” Trump wrote in his executive order, “by tyrannically and arbitrarily coercing United States companies to censor political speech, turn over sensitive United States user data, or change their content moderation policies.”
“These actions also chill and limit expression in the United States, violate human rights, and undermine the interest that the United States has in protecting its citizens and companies at home and abroad,” he added.
De Moraes ordered Bolsonaro, already under house arrest of dubious “coup” charges, to be placed under 24-hour police surveillance after the sanctions passed.
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