West trying to stand together in bid to maintain its position of privilege: China Daily editorial

Hosting the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Liverpool over the weekend, United Kingdom foreign secretary Liz Truss proved she is no slouch when it comes to toeing the United States' line in foreign affairs.

Eager to prove that as an echo of Washington's message she does not pale in comparison with her predecessor, in her opening speech, Truss called on "the world's leading democracies and economies" to "come together strongly to stand up to aggressors, who are seeking to limit the bounds of freedom and democracy".

Reportedly, were it not for the US' rising concerns over the Ukrainian situation, the gathering would have been dedicated solely to targeting China, as an encore for the so-called Summit for Democracy gabfest that US President Joe Biden hosted two days before the G7 meeting.

Like that earlier summit, the meet-and-greet in Liverpool tried to raise the time-eaten flag of values diplomacy — a Cold War legacy that the Joe Biden administration is trying to revive — with the foreign ministers of Australia, India and the Republic of Korea invited to attend in person, and the foreign ministers of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations participating via video links.

Truss appealed to the countries to have a unified voice and together stand up to "aggressors who are seeking to limit the bounds of freedom and democracy".

That she went to such great lengths in calling for "unity" shows what a hard sell it is trying to convince countries that China and Russia are "hostile actors". Especially, as it is the US and its cozy club of Western allies that are the ones displaying belligerence.

The Liverpool meeting further underlined that some Western politicians take it for granted that they have the privilege to tell other countries whether they are a democracy or not and the people in those countries whether they enjoy human rights or not. It is this mentality that prompts them to try and intervene in other countries' internal affairs and to embark on "democratic" crusades with a sense of righteousness and devoutness, and military force if it is deemed necessary, to bring "enlightenment" to the ignorant. It is that mentality that is the root cause of much of the unrest and trouble in the world.

The West having tried to make the world more "democratic and free" for so long has instead only made it more polarized and risk-ridden, and more unfair to the less-developed countries.

The desperation with which the US and its lackeys try to contain China's rise — US Secretary Antony Blinken visits Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand this week in another effort to drive a wedge between them and China — is just a continuation of their efforts to maintain their dictatorship over the world.

To that end, Truss played her role to a tee.