There’s a new candor in relations between the United States and China. At least from the Washington side.
While Beijing refers to where Uighurs are held as Vocational Education and Training Centers, they are “concentration camps” operating purely for the mass internment of a persecuted religious minority, according to Washington. In June, four Chinese news organizations operating in the U.S. were redesignated as “foreign missions” to show their ties to the country’s authoritarian rulers.
And most notably, Xi Jinping is no longer “President Xi” in statements. Rather, he is “General Secretary Xi,” reflecting the administration’s view that his power comes from his position in the Communist Party rather than from the people of China.
The benefits in calling a spade a spade are clear for the Trump administration as it ratchets up pressure on Beijing, exposes doublespeak, and tries to drive a wedge between the country’s communist rulers and its population.
But if that wasn’t irritation enough for Xi’s regime, U.S. officials said they are merely taking inspiration from the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius and his strictures on the dangers of hypocrisy.
So, when the State Department reclassified China Central Television, the Global Times, and others as foreign missions, the White House National Security Council posted a gleeful tweet. “In Confucianism, this is known as the Rectification of Names,” it said.
The tweet was more than a cheeky aside. It reflected a course set out two years ago by Matthew Pottinger, then the senior director for Asia at the National Security Council.
Where China talked about cooperation, he substituted the word “competition.” And he delivered it all in Mandarin during an event to mark China’s National Day at its Washington embassy with a lesson in Confucius.
@StateDept designates 4 more propaganda outlets as PRC foreign missions. In Confucianism, this is known as the Rectification of Names (正名).https://t.co/CgmiTjFfZy
— NSC (@WHNSC) June 23, 2020
“If names cannot be correct, then language is not in accordance with the truth of things, and if language is not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success,” he said to giggles.
In the latest move on Thursday, State Department officials announced they were designating Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes, ostensibly cultural and language centers, as “foreign missions,” requiring them to register personnel and property just like an embassy.
“This is a Confucian rectification of names, as many of you understand,” said Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell. “We’re simply calling these things what they are: These are arms of the Chinese Communist Party.”
In short, using the wrong words makes it impossible to deal with reality.
Confucius was not mentioned, but that spirit rippled through a new White House China strategy published in May.
“Guided by a return to principled realism, the United States is responding to the CCP’s direct challenge,” it said, inserting the Chinese Communist Party where the whole of China might have been implicated before “by acknowledging that we are in a strategic competition and protecting our interests appropriately.”
So, where U.S. officials might once have politely welcomed the rise of China while wondering how to square that with protecting and stimulating growth at home, now they emphasize Beijing’s threat to U.S. jobs.
Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the highest-ranking U.S. official to use the term “concentration camp” to describe the facilities where Uighurs are being held.
The new honesty comes with risks. Some analysts point out that doublespeak has a purpose in diplomacy, allowing rivals to enter negotiation under the cover of vague language that can be shaped to either side’s benefit as a precursor to more concrete agreement. A dose of hypocrisy and a blind eye are frequently the price of getting things done.
But for now, Xi must stomach the indignity of losing his presidential title. Pompeo led the way, using “general secretary” at least eight times in the past month, followed by the attorney general, the secretary of state, the national security adviser, and the director of the FBI in major set piece speeches.
For example, the FBI’s Christopher Wray deployed it in denouncing Operation Fox Hunt, which China claims is a global anti-corruption operation.
“Instead, Fox Hunt is a sweeping bid by General Secretary Xi to target Chinese nationals whom he sees as threats and who live outside China, across the world,” he said during a Hudson Institute video event.
But not quite everyone in the administration is up to speed with Confucian strictures, it seems.
“I had a great relationship with President Xi,” Trump said in a radio interview last week, describing the state of relations between Washington and Beijing. “I like him, but I don’t feel the same way now.”
