Guyon Espiner has an article about John Key and his boot-licking relationship with the CCP and Xi Jinping. I’ll warn you now, you’ll need a bucket as it is extremely vomit-inducing:
Many politicians in the West see China’s President Xi Jinping as a dangerous dictator who has scrapped term limits, allowing him to rule the world’s most populous country for life.
But former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key calls President Xi a friend – and says he is on the Chinese leader’s Christmas card list.
“He calls me a friend and I think he sort of means that,” Key said. “I don’t want to overstate things – he might take me off his Christmas card list, but he does send me one every year.”
Stuff
John Key is obviously still hoping for that elusive board appointment to a Chinese bank. I’m not sure I’d be happy getting a Christmas card from a dictator, but hey whatever rips your undies eh John?
Key says his closeness to President Xi has given him insights into China’s thinking.
“I’ve had the privilege of quite a lot of one-on-one dinners and conversations with Xi Jinping.”
Key said China still saw itself as a developing nation and hoped to lift another 300-400 million people out of poverty with policies aimed at increasing economic growth.
“The goal is, and this is a crude way of saying it, but Singapore on steroids. It’s to develop the country to a point where they are smart, efficient, lifting people out of poverty and giving people opportunity and hope.”
Stuff
And I’m sure Xi’s boots are highly spit polished as a result of those one on one dinners.
Key then glibly glosses over China’s appalling human rights issues:
Key accepted China had serious human rights issues and believed New Zealand should speak up about those but didn’t think that should hinder strong economic relations between the countries.
“Some people will say, ‘God, that guy’s just an investment banker through and through and all he’s thinking about is money, doesn’t care about anything else,’ and all I would say to you is that I am not an idiot,” Key said.
“I do think that New Zealand companies and New Zealand consumers have massively benefited from this relationship. I don’t think we’ve done that by selling our soul. I think we’ve continued to stand up for the things we believe in and I do think that it would be easy for us to drift into the place where the others are at.”
Stuff
You may not be an idiot, but you have no principles…or at the least you sold those principles for a few cheap Chinese knock-offs. As for your soul? Well, I’m not sure you actually have one.
Key said he remained in touch with the former leaders of Britain, Australia, America and Canada, and they were all deeply negative about China.
“I’m not going to change my view, because all of a sudden, a bunch of leaders that I used to hang around with who thought China were good, now all of a sudden, think they are not so good.”
Stuff
Interesting insight into the lonely ex-politicians club. Also lets me know that Key has concrete thinking when it comes to China. As I said, he’s still holding out hope for that sinecure at a Chinese bank, and yes I used that word deliberately, both for its original meaning and for the more modern.
“I’m not a tinfoil hat conspiracy kind of guy. I think they are what they are. They are a big country that used to have the largest economy in the world that has spent centuries on ice,” Key said.
“They are many things, but a global force for evil is not one of them in my view.”
Stuff
And there we have it, proof that he is in fact an idiot…a CCP boot-licking idiot.
If something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it is probably a Peking Duck.
Just remember, no hard feelings John.
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