Russia and China Celebrate “Collapsed Democracy”

Beijing Yesterday was a day full of Chinese and Russian propaganda. But even one of those days to work is simple.

The photos from Washington, the outgoing president stirring the crowd, the occupied Capitol, policemen armed with rifles, and four dead provide perfect material to be broadcast on regime news or fed on social networks, without the need for much drama. . This time it was the evidence that supported the hypothesis that Beijing and Moscow had been pursuing for some time: America is a hegemonic power that is in retreat, a superpower that claims to dictate the direction of the world, to position itself as a global judge or policeman, but it is not. Cant even solve problems at home.

A country with an electoral system “outdated and vulnerable to abuse,” as the Russian Foreign Ministry stated. Or even “internal collapse”, such as the most severe Beijing newspaper, the Global Times.

As an imitation Xi Jinping e Russian President Vladimir Putin They did not speak, leaving the lieutenants or the feathers of the order. But the unprecedented US crisis is strengthening them, both inside and outside its borders, because their proposal for an authoritarian regime is stronger in the face of American chaos.

In Russia, the well-known pro-Putin commentator Vladimir Solovyov Held on YouTube live with the title “Glory of Washington”, in reference to the protests in Ukraine in the winter of 2013. RTThe global Kremlin propaganda loudspeaker is titled “Attack on the Capitol Building,” accompanied by dramatic music images of the raid.

However, the reference in China is the protests in Hong Kong, to the masked boys who stormed Parliament in 2019 and were defended by the United States as champions of democracy. “It’s karma,” a social media user wrote yesterday in Mandarin, more and more nationalists. “Wonderful vision,” joked others, eating the words spoken by the speaker Nancy PelosI, the person who invaded his office, described the demonstrations in Hong Kong.

For both Beijing and Moscow, US weakness opens a window of opportunity. The Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns were not intended to support a coherent message of supportTrump cardTo what extent can subvert American democratic institutions and sow chaos? The outgoing president was a means to an end.

So much so that yesterday the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Senate Kosachov He could gloat: “Democracy is starting to swing with both legs. America is no longer following the direction accordingly. It has lost all right to establish it. It has imposed it on others even more.”

For China, the emerging power, the opportunity is greater. The communist leadership has always been convinced that global balances are shifting in its favor, and that the socialist model is more effective in facing the challenges of the globalized world than liberal democracies. The battle against the coronavirus, which Beijing contained by restarting its economy first and foremost, is a confirmation of this.

The uprisings in the United States are a counter. Yesterday, the State Department spokesman affirmed these points with a surgical skill: “Especially in light of the critical situation of the epidemic, we hope that the American people will soon enjoy peace, stability and security.” By implication, those the dragon actually found. It is a speech that has seized the Chinese citizens, as the system is the key to the legitimacy they recognize in the party.

In this regard, we measure the distance between China and Russia, which suffered as much from the epidemic as Western democracies. And the way in which Moscow and Beijing tried to exploit the US disengagement on the international front, which Trump hastened to redesign a multipolar system, is also different: Putin has focused above all on weapons, from the Middle East to the Mediterranean, Xi is trying to rely on China. As a champion of globalization and the penetration of international institutions.

For the Russian leader, the relationship with Biden Promising to be arduous, Xi Jinping instead hopes the new US president will soften the attack against China and give him more time to consolidate it. The dragon knows he’s lagging behind his rival, but the dramatic end to the Trump era gives him confidence.