During an official state visit to China, a NATO member state leader praised Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping, calling him a “defender of peace” in a statement on social media.
Spanish socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his admiration for the Chinese communist dictator on Monday, August 9, saying, “China and Spain are two friendly nations, defenders of peace and committed to the multilateral order.”
He added that his country and China were committed to tackling climate change, despite China’s extensive use of coal-fired power plants and the fact it is building more coal plants than the rest of the world.
Sanchez’s comments regarding China being a “defender of peace” come amid accusations that the Chinese are abetting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Beijing refusing to attend a peace conference in Switerzland in June as Russia was not invited.
The CCP has also been saber-rattling regarding Taiwan. Xi Jinping has explicitly told U.S. President Joe Biden that China and Taiwan would be unified, whether through diplomacy or force.
Earlier this year, Admiral John Aquilino, head of the Indo-Pacific Command, predicted that China could invade Taiwan as early as 2027, claiming the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is actively preparing for an invasion of the island.
“The PLA’s actions indicate their ability to meet Xi’s preferred timeline to unify Taiwan with mainland China by force if directed,” he told the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in March.
China has also demanded that the United States cease ties with the Taiwanese government following elections in January that saw anti-CCP and pro-independence candidates elected to office.
