Fake Messiah: As Trump Withdraws From Globalization Stakes, Xi Steps In - But to What Avail?

President Xi Jinping is praising globalization and suggesting that China is ready to assume leadership of a globalized world – even as the United States signals its withdrawal on some fronts and rejects global commitments like the Paris agreement on climate change. During his keynote address at the World Economic Forum, Xi pointed out that China once resisted globalization and opening its economy, too. He added that blaming economic globalization and engaging in protectionism won’t solve problems. “As the world’s biggest beneficiary of free trade, sitting atop $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, its global investments rising by 50% to $175 billion, and some 130 million Chinese tourists spending over $200 billion last year China has reasons to be the top defender of globalization,” writes Nayan Chanda, founding editor of YaleGlobal Online. Still, China’s actions toward neighbors – including punitive trade policies and aggressiveness in the South China Sea over disputed areas and islands – “do not jibe with its lofty rhetoric about humanity’s common destiny.” – YaleGlobal