The Presidents of Brazil and China, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping, agreed “to maintain frequent coordination” on both bilateral and global matters, Lula da Silva reported, when they spoke by telephone in the evening on Jan. 22 (Brazil time). The two, both founding leaders of the BRICS, have met several times since Lula returned to the Presidency in January 2023; in this latest discussion, Xi praised the relationship between their two nations for “setting an example of unity and cooperation between Global South countries,” Xinhua reported.
Xi proposed the two nations deepen their economic cooperation, noting that China is setting out on its new Five Year Plan this year—a plan with audacious scientific and technological goals, as EIR has reported. This could prove exciting, as Brazil has scientific capabilities of its own which could use a boost. “We agreed to expand cooperation in frontier areas of knowledge,” Lula reported.
Both reports emphasized that an important part of their discussion was the need “to strengthen the United Nations as the path to defending peace and stability in the world,” as Lula wrote. Xi was reported to have called for the two countries to “make more efforts to defend the common interests of both countries and of the Global South, and jointly safeguard the central role of the United Nations, as well as international fairness and justice.”
Neither party reported that U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” was discussed, but it is likely that it was. Both nations have been invited to join and have yet to answer.
China’s semi-official daily Global Times has made it clear that China, in particular, is very wary that the so-called Board of Peace is less about saving Palestine and the Palestinian people, and more a unilateral gambit to replace the United Nations.
In its editorial on Jan. 24, Global Times raised that question explicitly. “Since the mission definition of the `Board of Peace’ appears to `overlap’ with the UN’s purpose of maintaining international peace and security, does it intend to replace or usurp the responsibilities of the UN?...
“The UN is the most authoritative international organization built by humanity after enduring the tribulations of war and making immense sacrifices to avoid conflict and ensure peace,” it argued. “Bypassing the UN is equivalent to weakening the authority of international law, which will sow the seeds of hidden dangers for future conflicts….
“Facts have long demonstrated that the Gaza issue cannot be resolved behind closed doors by a handful of countries. It must be addressed within the UN framework, with extensive consultations involving Palestine, Israel, Arab countries and all other relevant stakeholders…. Any solution which excludes Palestine from the decision-making level is, in essence, an exclusive `clique’ mechanism. It represents a unilateral attempt to hijack the concept of multilateralism, calling into question both its fairness and effectiveness.”
The result, the editorial warns, “is more likely to exacerbate confrontation rather than ease it.”
