In the jaws of the dragon

The sequence of images showing the big hands of a smiling Xi Jinping holding the shoulders of a composed and stiff Putin is the clear translation of how our efforts to boycott the Russian economy following the Ukrainian invasion are ineffective and self-destructive.

In our country, only a few official photos in the major newspapers and a hasty report on the foreign news page reported the event, but without giving it too much weight and even less political reading. Our television, whether public or private, no longer makes any difference, it has long been perfectly aligned with the diktat of the majority that governs us and the war in Ukraine, the sanctions imposed by America and the EU and the sending of weapons for billions of dollars, are an untouchable mantra that resonates endlessly in the corridors of manipulated information. In this one-sided reading of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict imposed by the media in which dissenting voices are pilloried, silenced where possible or directly accused of being pro-Putinism, every event that is not functional to the government's position is prudently glossed over. And yet that double hug, that emotional outburst with which Xi greeted his friend Vladimir on an official visit to Beijing, is not common in the body language of the Chinese president and, in addition to being filmed and repeatedly re-proposed by state TV, has gone viral on Mandarin social media. The sanctions imposed after the Russian aggression could have been effective if the resolution of March 9, 2022 had not seen the abstention of China, India and South Africa, but when global players abstain, the entire sanctions machine can be circumvented, and so it was. Russia, having entered a war economy, continues to grow while Europe pays the price.

And so we return to the images of the farewell, the two presidents face to face smiling, both in dark suits and white shirts, but without ties and unbuttoned, and Xi's big hands resting on Putin's shoulders that have animated the debate of Western political scientists: the gesture of a "big brother", of a majority partner or simply a safe point of support? The Russian/Chinese axis goes well beyond the war in Ukraine and is not only capable of canceling the effectiveness of our sanctions but is delivering half the European continent into the jaws of the dragon, with all due respect to the EU group that, blinded by the particular (the war in Ukraine), loses sight of the big picture.

While our beloved America places a 100% duty on Chinese cars, batteries and technology, we, geographically and economically in the middle, are forced to take part in the political dispute that is emerging between the USA and the empire of Japan, but as faithful and obsequious servants of the stars and stripes flag we choose the path of the usual and silent obedience, the Meloni/Biden axis, sealed by Joe's kiss on Giorgia's blonde head, reassures us all, with all due respect to Xi's big hands.


Michelangelo Dotta
NP June/July 2024