Overheard at Davos: Subtle and philosophical Xi Jinping impresses
Davos — The big event on Tuesday was the address by the person often called the "president" of China, Xi Jinping. Actually, he is the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Would that it were members of the South African Communist Party would just for a moment — just a little, little moment — listen to him. The previews suggested he intended the speech to be a spirited defence of globalisation. But as it turned out, the characterisation understated the subtlety of the message, and its dimensions. I can’t imagine how much effort went into writing it, but my guess is a lot, particularly given the array of analogies spotted through the speech.The defence of globalisation was there: "Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room. Wind and rain may be kept outside, but so is light and air." But there was careful acknowledgement that China, too, had made missteps, and lots of acknowledgement of the difficulties. He described globalisation as a evolving concept, ...
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