China Says US Shouldn't Use Pretexts, US Says Hold My Beer (and Oil)
China says the U.S. shouldn't use other countries as a 'pretext' to pursue its interests, as reported by ABC News. A bold statement, certainly, for anyone paying attention since, well, forever. The framing here presents China's statement as a mere diplomatic observation, rather than a pointed critique of Washington's well-documented tendency to cloak geopolitical and economic ambitions under the
guise of democracy promotion or (selectively applied) human rights. One might politely inquire how many times the 'weapons of mass destruction' served as a 'pretext' for a highly profitable invasion. This isn't a novel observation from Beijing. This is Beijing reminding Washington (and the global audience) that the 'rules-based order' often translates into 'rules as defined by us, for our
benefit.' Considering the United States' historical interventions—from Latin American 'banana republics' to the destabilization of the Middle East post-9/11 (remember Libya and Syria, anyone?)—China's 'observation' looks less like a 'saying' and more like stating the blindingly obvious. The media's job, apparently, is to present this as just another headline, instead of the core dynamic of modern
geopolitics.